Frank Robertson's Blog

Having my lost my dad to Alzheimer's when he was far too young, I know about the toll it takes on families.  Since I lived in other states during his illness, I wasn't able to participate in his care.  His condition deterioriated so rapidly that my mom had no other feasible option but to place him in a nursing home.

For those of you who are currently caring for a family member who has Alzheimer's, I would strongly encourage you to take advantage of the resources avaiable at the Suncoast Alzheimers & Gerontology Center.  In fact, the center is offiering a seminar for family caregivers Wednesday, May 7th between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the Hale Activities Center, 330 Douglas Avenue in Dunedin.  Some walk up registration is still available.

For more information on the center, log on to www.suncoastalzheimers.com.

Language is a powerful tool and there's no doubt words should be chosen carefully. So, perhaps it's not surprising that the Associated Press is reporting that the Bush administration is cautioning against the use of certain words in describing terrorists.

Apparently, from now on, terms such as "jihadists" and "Islamo-facism" are to be avoided all all costs. The reasoning is that applying a religious label to radicals may only give them more credibility among Muslims.

There is nothing "holy" about people who thrive on creating chaos, violence and death. So, it makes sense not to assign them such a righteous status.

Several states are considering lowering the legal drinking age from 21 to 18. In doing so, they risk losing millions of dollars in federal highway funding. But, beyond that, such attempts are sure to spark a furious debate. When I was 18, 21 was the legal drinking in most states. By the time I reached my 21st birthday, it had been lowered to 18. The argument goes that, if someone is old enough to serve in the military and put his or her life on the line, they should be able to order a beer. Strong argument.

Organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving would argue strenuously that allowing 18-year olds to drink legally would lead to a surge in teenage traffic deaths. Very strong argument!

 Here's the problem. Whether the "legal" age is 21 or 18, kids are drinking. In fact, it seems to be a rite of passage on most college, if not high school campuses. It's very difficult to legislate human behavior.

 So, to my way of thinking, the tone has to be set by parents. You can forbid your under 21-year old from drinking entirely. Yet, to me, the rigid approach rarely works and frequently backfires. The more reasonable strategy might be to insist on responsible drinking. That means, under no circumstances, should your son or daughter get behind the wheel after drinking alcohol. As we've seen too many times, the potential consequences are both life altering and life threatening.

If you believe everything you read, it would seem Southwest Airlines just has it in for the "beautiful people." Remember the Hooters waitress who was asked to cover up her revealing and provocative outfit several months back. Kyla Ebbert  made the talk show rounds to complain about the shoddy treatment, refused to accept an apology, but did accept an offer to pose in Playboy.

I read in the St. Pete Times this morning about two young women from Oldsmar who say they were singled out simply for being pretty. Southwest disputes that, saying the pair behaved badly on a flight between Tampa and L-A. One of the young women admits getting into a profanity laden shouting match with a guy who kept her waiting outside the rest room longer than she would have liked. When the flight arrived in L-A, police officers escorted the two young women off the plane. Everyone involved was questioned, but no further action was taken. The young ladies did have to purchase return tickets to Tampa on other airlines.

Are we actually seeing a pattern of discrimination against young, attractive women on Southwest Airlines? I doubt it. If you've ever been on a Southwest flight, you know the atmosphere is anything but uptight! In fact, Southwest prides itself on customer service and satisfaction. I guess what I've always heard is true. Some people are never satisfied.

A few months back, I wrote a few lines about our dog "Blondie" who was really struggling with the use of her hind legs. She had been on arthritis medication for some time and then we actually tried acupuncture. Unfortunately, it didn't restore any function to her legs.

Over the past few months, her condition only worsened. She couldn't walk and basically dragged herself around. It was painful for Kathy and me to watch. As she reached her 13th birthday, "Blondie's" appetite seemed to wane and she also became incontinent.

A little under two weeks ago, we made the inevitable decision to have her "put to sleep." The vet assured us we were making a "humane" decision. It didn't make it any less difficult.

We adopted "Blondie" from the SPCA nine years ago when she was four years old. We could not have asked for a better four legged companion. I'm sharing this because I now have much greater empathy with those of you who have had to make the same difficult decision. We do have another dog who clearly misses his buddy and we find ourselves expecting to find "Blondie" curled up in her usual spot in our bedroom when we come home each night. She'll always have a place in our hearts.

Mitt Romney's withdrawal from the presidential race means a trend that's been in place for more than 30 years is about to change. Since Jimmy Carter's election in 1976, four out of the last five presidents have been governors. The only exception, of course, was the first President Bush who ran as a sitting vice president. In fact, a sitting member of the U.S. Senate has not been elected President since John F. Kennedy in 1960. That's right, it's been 48 years since a member of the Senate won the White House.

I don't think that happened by accident.  From Carter to Reagan to Clinton to Bush, every one of those Governors portrayed themselves as Washington outsiders.  U-S Senators, on the other hand, are considered the consummate Washington insiders.

 With John McCain now a lock to win the Republican nomination and Senators Clinton and Obama vying for the Democratic nomination, history will be made this year. A U-S senator will become president. It remains to be seen if he or she will govern as well as a governor.

The Florida Supreme Court has just ruled that a 24-year old man convicted of killing a retired police officer in Pensacola should not be executed, but serve life in prison without parole instead. This is sure to anger death penalty supporters, but there are mitigating circumstances.

The shooter interpreted the "A" on the retired officer's University of Alabama cap as a sign that he was the "Antichrist." Ryan Green also claimed he was the "son of God." Yet, the jury didn't buy his insanity defense. In fact, it recommended the death penalty by a vote of 10 to 2.

In reaching its decision to reduce the sentence to life, the high court cited Green's history of mental illness and no prior criminal record. That, I'm sure, is of little comfort to the victim's family. At the same time, I believe there is a greater underlying message.

I suppose you could argue that anyone who takes another person's life is, at the time, "out of his mind." Yet, when someone is delusional enough to believe he is the "son of God," that's something different entirely. The great sadness here is that Ryan Green clearly didn't get the treatment he needed to be a functioning member of society. Some where along the way, I wish his family or friends had intervened. The retired policeman might still be alive and Green might not be incarcerated for the rest of his life.

The way the two major political parties choose their presidential nominees has always bordered on the ridiculous. For the life of me, I can't figure out why two relatively small states(Iowa and New Hampshire) have so much to say about who the "frontrunners" are. Win either one of those first two states and suddenly you have "momentum."

Of course, since John McCain's victory in New Hampshire, Mitt Romney has supposedly stemmed the tide with his win in Michigan. Okay, first of all, Romney was born in Michigan and his father was a popular governor there. Doesn't that sort of make it a hollow victory? Polls show McCain is leading in South Carolina. So, if he wins there, will the Arizona Senator be the frontrunner again?

Things may be even  more muddled after our Florida primary on January 29th. Suppose Rudy Giuliani wins. Then, who's the leader of the pack?

Sorry, folks. We are long overdue for a national primary. In theory, at least, it would prevent the candidates from focusing on a select few states. The downside? Campaign spending might actually increase and it's already completely out of hand. But, until we demand that candidates can't simply buy an election, that's not about to change!

It may take quite a while to sort out exactly what caused yesterday's massive pile-up on I-4. We know that thick fog played a huge factor, but investigating agencies are less certain about the role played by smoke from a controlled burn that got of out of control. While its tempting to quickly assign blame, the real goal should be to gain a full understanding of what happened and why.

Fog is a reality in Central Florida at this time of year. The stretch of I-4 where Wednesday's crashes occurred is in a low lying area. Whether smoke compounded the problem or not, wouldn't it make sense to avoid controlled burns at the height of "fog season?"

At the same time, it seems the Department of Transportation should always err on the side of caution and shut down roads when visibility is reduced to nearly  zero.  The technology for close monitoring certainly exists. D-O-T has mounted remote cameras nearly every where. This particular stretch of interstate seems to be a prime location for some of those cameras

What can I say about the retirement of Bill Murphy that hasn't already been said? Nothing. So, I won't. Just kidding!!! In truth, Bill is one of the most versatile television talents I have ever known. He's taken on a number of roles in his long television career and has done them all well.

Here's what you may not know about Murph. He's just as funny off camera as he is on. Maybe more so. Virtually every time I see Bill, we share a laugh about something. In fact, I've stolen more jokes from Bill Murphy than Milton Berle stole from all of his fellow comics. What can I say about Bill Murphy? He makes me laugh and I can't think of a better tribute than that.

I also want to write a few words about our production manager Jim Benedict who is also retiring after more than 40 years here at the station. You won't meet a more genuinely nice guy than Jim. He's also "Mr. Versatility." Even after all this time, it's not unusual to see him running camera during one of our newscasts. In fact, he was doing exactly that on New Year's Day. There he was, days from retirement, working on a holiday. To me, that says he never asked anything of his employees that he wouldn't do himself.

Gentlemen, I wish you both happiness in retirement and please don't be strangers!

Several of my colleagues this week have expressed their thoughts on the passing of Hugh Smith and it's appropriate that I do the same.

When I came to WTVT in 1988, I knew that, at some point, I would be assuming Hugh's role as co-anchor of the 6 and 11 p.m news. So did he. The timetable wasn't set and quite frankly I was a little surprised when, after only 5 months, management decided I would start anchoring the 11pm with Kelly Craig and then the 6pm that September as we moved into our new building.

Here's what you should know about that entire process. Never once did Hugh Smith say an unkind word to me. Quite to the contrary. He treated me as a peer when, in fact, I had a long way to go before attaining that status. He did become a great mentor because of his vast knowledge and unparalleled insight as the Tampa Bay area's preeminent television journalist.

More than one person said to me at the time, "You have some big shoes to fill." Each one of them was right and I never really tried to fill them. I simply tried to do my professional best which is the standard Hugh Smith set for all of us.

We will all miss him, but we will never forget him.

My vote for our most ridiculous story of the day goes to the contractor in Cleveland who discovered 182-thousand dollars stashed in the wall of a bathroom he was renovating. Actually, because the bills were printed in 1928 and '29, they are worth much more. Along with some other items found, the total stash may be worth half a million. So, the homeowner offered the guy a 10 per cent finder's fee and he turned it down. He wants 40 per cent.  Huh?

Like most disputes, this is heading to the courts. Now, here's the kicker. The contractor and the homeowner were high school classmates. I can't wait to hear about the next class reunion!

We have a story today about a Texan named Jackie Bibby who sat in a tub filled with 87 rattlensnakes for 45 minutes. It was his successful attempt to break his own world record of sitting in a tub with 75 rattlesnakes. Whether it's 75 or 87, is there really somebody out there who will attempt to eclipse his glorious distinction? Well, maybe there is.

Many people are fascinated by outrageous world records. A few years ago, we even had a "Guinness Book of World Records" show on FOX. Yet, other than a few minutes on television and an entry in the official "Guinness Book," what's in it for the record holder? Are they able to retire with the huge sums of cash that come their way? Don't think so.

Risking a bite from a 87 venomous snakes may be a thrill for Mr. Bibby, but he doesn't have to worry about me threatening his record. The next time I get into a tub, it'll be with a bar of soap and wash cloth.