Inauguration Logistical Nightmare

I’m truly honored and excited to be covering the Presidential Inauguration in Washington D.C.  I just received some sobering news from our Shaun Neville, the Special Projects Producer for Hearst-Argyle, which is our Washington bureau where we will be working out of.

“What I can share with you is that this is setting up to be a logistical nightmare.  Secret Service announced perimeter restrictions yesterday and they are the most extreme ever implemented.  Various bridges from Virginia and Maryland will be closed to traffic and Metro is expected to be jammed… Traffic is expected to be very heavy.  I can tell you that folks here at the Bureau are adding 2-3 hours to their commuting time in fear that the crowd estimates of 1-3 million are accurate,” said Neville.

I personally am up to the challenge both mentally and physically.  These trips require an incredible amount of stamina and I can sleep later.  Many people don’t want to deal with the hassels but I thrive off of assignments like this.  This is an important time for our nation and I’m determined to bring the best stories to you!

aloha,

Mahealani Richardson

Barack Obama At Keehi

Sorry, for not keeping our Island Breakfast Blog “fresh.” I got to get on those anchors to blog more often. Since the transition to WordPress, I forgot my login but now I’m all set to blog.

A friend convinced me to go to the Sen. Barack Obama rally this past Friday. I’m not necessarily a supporter but I went for the historical significance of the event. Obama might also be the only viable presidential candidate I’ll see in my lifetime who was born and raised in Hawaii.

Here’s some pictures I took with my iPhone 3G:

Not bad for a 2MP camera phone with no autofocus or flash. I did crop the pictures, though.

It was a hot, yet windy, day at Keehi Lagoon. I got a nice suntan while waiting for the Obama family, who was 45 minutes late. I’m just glad his speech was fairly quick. I liked when he talked about getting some local food.

I did manage to record some video using my Canon digital camera. Unfortunately, I recorded the beginning, end and one awkward part in the middle when Obama talked about health care. But, I edited together what I had. I’m sure our live broadcast on KITV and kitv.com was much better. But, here’s my personal Obama rally video:

Clayton Wakida
KITV 4 Island Television News This Morning Producer