Longview News-Journal from Longview, Texas • Page 22

Longview News-Journal, Sunday, June 25, 2006 28 www.news-journal.com Doppler Eight tips to help you save more money up, everyone wants to know what's going on," Hurley said. "We don't hesitate here." Streit and Scirto say KLTV has Doppler radar, as well as other forecasting and reporting tools. One piece of software, which KLTV calls "X-vision," allows meteorologists to slice computer images of storms in half to find potential hail or learn whether a storm is increasing or decreasing in intensity. Viewers who sign up for the station's ThunderCall service receive a phone call whenever threatening weather approaches their homes. "There are lots of other things that KLTV has invested in other than radar," Scirto said.

"We have software purchased and installed here that is really top of the line stuff. It shows storms in ways that East Texas has never seen before." Streit said KYTX's new system is an investment in technology that KLTV and KETK have already. The difference often is in who delivers the forecasts, he said. "The technology is so far advanced that, when you get to the fine points of radar, the average consumer won't understand that technology and won't even care. Consumers make their choice of who they turn to, I would say, probably in the same way they make their choice in a doctor," said Streit.

"If you're sick, you're going to choose a doctor based on their credibility by knowledge. It's who you trust. Even if they have the newest technology, if you know the doctor you're going to is going to cure you or save you, you're going to go to them," he said. Mike DeLier, general manager at KETK, said what makes his station's Doppler system unique is the station's staff. "As far as weather gear goes, ourselves and KLTV have had and still have the most up-to-date weather equipment in East Texas.

We're not into hype. We're in to covering the news, weather and sports as accurately and professionally as we possibly can," DeLier said. In the May ratings from Nielsen Media Research, KLTV continued its dominance of the area television market with an estimated 70,000 East Texas households tuning in to its 10 p.m. newscast. KETK was second with about 12,000 viewers, and KYTX was watched by an estimated 9,000 viewers.

"If they're competing ferociously for audience, that's all a good thing," said Jack Lostus, a spokesman for Nielsen Media Research. "We wish them all well and we wish that the public is served, and it sounds like all three are dynamic television stations competing for viewers and ratings." SHANE SHERWOOD following are some tips to help you start saving or revamp your savings goals. I Pay yourself first Make saving easy and automatic by setting up a direct withdrawal from your paycheck or checking account to go directly into a savings or investment account. This can be set up on a weekly, biweekly, semimonthly or monthly basks. Save a portion or all of bonuses, raises and tax refunds: Instead of using these small windfalls for discretionary spending on luxury items, consider saving a portion, if not all, of this money.

1 Reduce spending: For example, consider taking your lunch to work each day instead of eating out. Be fuel efficient: Gasoline prices are at their all time highs and hybrid automobiles are becoming more popular. Not only can they help you save money at the gas pump, there also are tax advantages. Car-pooling or choosing other forms of public transportation are other ways to save money on fuel. i Avoid unnecessary bank charges: To avoid automated teller machine fees, make ATM withdrawals from your own bank.

Also avoid over-withdrawal fees. Also, paying bills online could reduce the cost of checks and stamps. Seek higher interest rates on cash accounts: For example, switching $10,000 from a checking account earning a half percent to a money market account estrning 3 percent would earn an additional $250 per year. Reduce credit card debt: This could be done by consolidating debt on multiple credit cards to a single card with a lower interest rate. Also, a home equity loan might be a feasible option.

This strategy could potentially transition the debt from nondeductible interest to deductible interest if you itemize on your income tax return. Home equity interest rates often are lower than credit card interest rates. Note, however, that if you default on a home equity loan, you could lose your home. Seek help: A qualified financial adviser can help you develop a personalized plan to increase your savings and help prepare for your financial goals. Shane Sherwood is a senior financial adviser with Ameriprise Financial Services in longview and a member of the Financial Planning Association.

He attended Kilgore College and the University of Texas at Tyler, where he studied business. Send questions or comments about this column to Business Editor Jo Lee Ferguson at First Class Customer Service Data Backup and Recovery CopiesPackaging Certified Technicians We Refill Ink Cartridges Wi-Fi Hotspot (0324) 1GB Flash Drive Computer Computer Maintenance Repair On-Site Service Computer Parts Network Installation Custom Built Computer Systems Internet Cafe 903-295-TECN Editor's note: Longview is loaded with experts, and we're opening some space to let our readers learn from some of them. Want a turn? Columns of 700 words or less on topics such as personal and business finance and employee-employer relations can be submitted for consideration to Business Editor Jo Lee Ferguson via e-mail at Columns must be written and submitted by local business people with advanced education or experience in their fields. Columns that promote specific products or service providers will not be considered. According to the U.S.

Commerce, the United States is at a negative savings rate. That means that American consumers are spending -more money after taxes than they earn. It is suspected that the rise in home values has been accompanied by a rise in how wealthy many homeowners feel. This might lead to the feeling that they don't need to save. Also, homeowners are accessing home equity loans and refinancing to support a higher standard of living than can actually be afforded.

Spending more of your paycheck might benefit our economy, but it is more than likely not good for your long-term financial stability. The Hurley combated the cone of silence by determining the center of KYTX's M-county market. An outside consultant told him the center was a sparsely-populated pasture in Ponta, a tiny community about 12 miles east of Jacksonville. Although the dozens of residents there are within the antenna's cone of silence, Hurley placed the station's transmitter tower and Doppler antenna in Ponta to cover a 230-mile radius blanketing Tyler, Longview, Nacogdoches and Lufkin. "We don't have to do any research to know how imiortant weather is," Hurley said "If you can get tlit" sponsors to get this stuff, it's going to make you a more valuable player to tell this community what the weather is." 1.: 51311) mi! Come In and check out our LCDs Media.

Won Sat. 8.30am 2902A Gilmer Ed Next to Jimmy's Donuts vww.longyiewcomputercenter.com From Page ID tornadoes. That's the whole purpose." Doppler radar determines the direction of atmospheric motion and measures the velocity of particles suspended in the atmosphere. Meteorologists use computer-generated images from the radar information to determine whether the particles are revolving in a tornadic pattern. Furyl9's 1.09 million-watt system features satellite imagery of East Texas, with details of Tyler and Longview.

Rather than telling viewers that a tornado has been spotted in north Longview, Hurley said, KYTX forecasters will be able to tell viewers that tornado appears to have touched down directly over such landmarks as the mail Lobo Stadium or Spring Hill High School. Increased wattage enhances the accuracy and distance in the detection of storms, allowing forecasters to determine turbulence and make-up, CBS-19 Meteorologist Scott Williams said. "People know where they are in relation to the landmarks, specifically in larger towns," said KYTX Chief Meteorologist Doc Deason. "Research-wise, severe weather is a No. 1 concern of viewers.

When it starts building Radars From Page IB toward or away from the antenna using the Doppler effect to measure the velocity of particles suspended in the atmosphere. The Doppler concept, to give an example, is like a train track, said Phil Hurley, general manager of Ty ler -based CBS-19 KYTX, which introduces its new radar system Saturday the station currently uses NEXRAD from the National Weather Service. If a train is traveling toward someone, he or she hears a different sound as opposed to the sound of the tain moving past and away from the person, "That's referred to as the Doppler shift," said Hurley, who said he purchased a less-expensive system when he was general manager at KETK, also in Tyler. The radar can determine the direction raindrops are moving. "That's important, especially in Convention From Page IB convention and visitors bureau, said convention-goers who visit East Texas generally spend about $119 a day, including hotels, gas and meals.

"It's extremely important," Scanio said of what the success of the convention could mean for Longview. People who attend will go hack to where they live and talk about Longview, she said. At the same, East Texans who are members of similar associations might become more mindful that they, too, can plug Longview as a place for their groups to meet. hi the end, that means more hotel revenues and hotel occupancy tax revenues that support arts and culture groups, for instance. It also means more sales tax revenues that help fund he city's operations.

Bringing the convention here is a culmination of a process that begin in 2003. District Clerk Barbara Duncan said the organization requires that the local clerks who want the convention to meet In "their community agree to organize the event. She and former county clerk Iiturie Woloszyn decided to try to bring it to Long-view after attending the convention in Lubbock In 2002. Bidding bikes pace two years in advance, and in 20C3, the local clerks lobbied lo bring the con-Ivention here in 2005. getting the Convention and visitors bureau to pitch the city's bid during the association's convention that year.

Longview lost to South Padre for that gathering, but Duncan said there's an unwritten rule that routinely makes that resort the convention site. In 2004, Longview again with the convention bureau presenting the bid went up against Wichita Falls to bid for this year's event and won. "They wanted to come to Northeast Texas," Duncan said of fellow association members. added that the area's lakes and trees helped lure tho generations of radar, provides three-dimensional viewing of the atmosphere," Zaleski said. "Much like a CAT scan to provide imagery of the human body, Doppler radar can provide 3-D imagery of a storm to predict hail, or damaging winds." Each television station finds a different way to overcome or deal with the cone of silence.

Wnitaker said KXAN later purchased a second antenna in the Texas Hill Country where most storms impacting Austin originate. KLTV in Tyler purchased two antennas, placing one in northeast Tyler and the other north of Lufkiii tu iover each uutt-r blind spots. KETK's antenna is positioned at its studios a block from Broadway Square Mall in Tyler. News Director Neal Barton said the cone of silence is in Tylers bustling retail district where not many homes are located. Monday night, participants will travel to the Rockin' buffalo ranch to "Experience the Old West East Texas Style." Tuesday night, convention-goers will travel to Shreveport to the casinos, something the association wanted to do, Scanio said The President's Banquet on the final night will be held at the Alert Academy In Big Sandy, a Christian-based service and training organization that Anderson said is a perfect setting for the evening's theme "Our American Heroes and Idols A Salute to Service." The convention is different from others in that the urgank-ers, not the association, determine what will be charged for registration, as well as for booth space, Scanio said.

The association puts a small amount of money in an account for stalling money, and then the organizers are expected to raise the rest, with the goal of making money to donate back to the association for scholarships and operations. The event costs about $.71,000, Scanio said and it looks like about that much might be given to the association. Duncan said that would be among the largest donations the association has received. Duncan and Wade said that's been possible in part through sponsorships, including "great participation" from local companies. In addition to projected hotel and sales tax revenue, the conference already has meant business for k)cal companies.

An out-of-state sKnsor, for instance, paid to have name tags for the event made locally. Bags that will bo given to the participants aiso were purchased locally with money from a sponsor. Wade and Duncan hope the a nft nee dr rv re La jh to Lot gvu Pirtiu i tsrn tun 0 ai 4 t1 lr onne it irtK i 1 hli Mix Dun i 1 1 'In lio(nnith tt ip j'IIk' a it!" i i nth i cn 4 tc 1 1 il t' is Wade said. looking at areas where there is tornadic circulation." Doppler radar detects the presence and location of a raindrop or hailstone by bouncing an electromagnetic signal off of it and measuring the time it takes for the signal to return, according to a National Weather Service Web site. A meteorologist uses the measurement to determine the distance and direction of the object from the antenna.

Walt Zaleski a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's southern region headquarters in Fort Worth, said Doppler radar has increased warning time for tornadoes A 1970s to about 19 minutes today. The weather service utilizes 120 radars across the country that can be linked to one composite map, he said. The radars mostly overlap each others' cones of silence. "Doppler Lr, as in previous Many of the clerks take their families with them, and those people need daytime activities. The kikes means fishing trips for the husbands, she said.

Also, she said trips have been scheduled for families to local attractions, such as the East Texas Oil Museum. While Duncan and County Clerk Connie Wade have organized the conference's educational sessions, they've had big help from Scan io and Anderson in organizing the rest of the event. It would have been hard to host the contention without their help, Wade said. "I didn't real'a? we have the staff available to help us through the con ventiot and visitors bureau," she sad. "They have the knowledge.

They have the connections. They have the networking capability. They had all the right phone numbers. They walked us through the contracting with the hotels process, the contracting wit. the conference site, which is Maude Cobb, contracting with caterers, contracting with events the locations we're using." Scanio arramred manv of those details, Wade said.

"She knows how to plan meetings," Anderson said Scanio designed the txxjth and electrical setup for the convention at Maude Cobb, secured buses to the entertainment and created a shuttle bus system to get attendees from the headquarter hotels to Maude Cobb. That's an example of the service conventions get if they come to Longview, Anderson said, and Scanio said that service is what she Kills when she tries to convince groups to come to Longview. The nightly entertainment will draw on local officials' push for regionalism and adhere to the Partnership's label for Long-view as the "Best View of the Texas Lake Participants will lie greeted tonight with a concert on a portion of Tyler Street and a reception at the Tyler Street Bistro and Gerald's next drxir..