Longview News-Journal from Longview, Texas • Page 9

Longview News-Journal, Saturday, February 14, 2009 9A STATE TODAY Digest Not ready for Three ET TV stations to continue analog digital? broadcasts until June 'V. '41 4f iimlIT. However, Phil Hurley, executive vice president of London Broadcasting, owners of CBS 19, said earlier this week the station would begin with a digital-only broadcast signal on Tuesday. The FCC also is requiring at least one broadcast station in each market to continue broadcasting an analog signal through June 12. John Cum-mings, chief engineer for Tyler-based KETK, Channel 56, said that should not be an issue in East Texas.

"If all the stations in this market had planned to go ahead and switch, we might have," Cummings said. Like many stations, Cummings said KETK has been transmitting dual analog and digital signals. That, he said, allowed viewers who have upgraded their TV sets to digital to receive the higher quality picture. It also allowed viewers who are keeping their older televisions Storm T. Mark Scirto's Channel 7 forecast SUNDAY Partly cloudy; rain possible TUESDAY Mostly cloudy; rain likely High 64, Low 44 THURSDAY Partly cloudy High 60, Low 45 IT LT3 Partly cloudy High 63, Low 45 MONDAY 1 Partly cloudy 59, Low 39 WEDNESDAY "1 Partly cloudy; rain early High 70, Low 52 FRIDAY Sunny High 62, Low 40 rr Local air quality forecast TODAY Good Air quality index scale is based on: Ground-level ozone, particle pollution (also known as particulate matter), carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.

SCALE 0-50: Good 51 -100: Moderate 101 -150: Unhealthy for some (such as people with lung disease) 151 -200: Unhealthy 201 -300: Very unhealthy 301 -500: Hazardous From www.airnow.gov 7 i 2k. and who have not purchased converter boxes to continue getting a signal. "We've been broadcasting a digital signal for nearly four years now," Cummings said. Drew Balch, programs and operations manager for Fox 51, said that station planned to continue broadcasting over analog airwaves until the FCC mandated change goes into effect in June. Balch cited the largely rural demographics of East Texas as playing a role in the decision to keep the analog signal on the air.

He said many of those viewers who have not yet upgraded to digital capabilities either with a converter box or through the purchase of digital televisions are older residents who may need help making the switch. "Hooking up the equipment is relatively easy but for some people, they still may want some help," Balch said. Michael CavazosNews-Journal Photo to recession The Cupcake Cafe in midtown New York offers budget-con-cious Valentine's Day gifts. New York Times Photo drop 17 percent, to $102.50 this year, the federation said. The holiday, Close said, may be coming full circle.

"It started as a very pure romantic holiday, until capitalism and marketing spiked it," she said. "We are retreating back a little bit to the original meaning behind the day." I iliiHtiitbi r. jm. Friday in Longview Temperature highlow: 7452 Rainfall (inches): 0.00 One year ago today Temperature highlow: 6938 Rainfall (inches): 0.00 Division repaves a portion of Fourth Street on Friday. BY MIKE ELSWICK The Federal Communications Commission is asking television stations that have decided to move forward with doing away with analog broadcasts prior to the recently extended deadline of June 12 to justify their decision.

Representatives from three of four East Texas-based stations said they plan to continue their analog broadcast until June 12. KLTV, KETK and Fox 51 station representatives said Friday they planned to delay the switch until the June deadline. Only one East Texas station, CBS 19, has indicated they plan to make the change to digital only broadcasts on Feb. 17, the original FCC deadline for switching signals. Representatives of CBS 19 could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.

i a Fixing the road The city of Longview Public Works Valentine's NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE Long-stemmed roses are being replaced by homemade cards. Theater tickets are being replaced by Net-flix. Personal jewelry is being replaced by personal poems. And even some preparing to propose today are seeking a bargain approach: on Yahoo, searches for "cheap engagement rings" are "off the charts" compared with a year ago, according to Vera Chan, a trend analyst for the company. Other searches that are up during last year include "cheap lingerie," "free Valentine's Day cards" and "homemade Valentine's Day gifts." Valentine's Day, a more discretionary holiday compared with birthdays and Christmas, is proving particularly vulnerable to the bursting of the economic bubble.

Diamond jewelry sales are down 20 percent to 30 percent hi the current economic climate, many men say it comes as a great relief not to have to produce a material manifestation of an intangible emotion. Angeline Close, a business professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who has studied consumer attitudes toward Valentine's Day, says the reassessment of the day is forcing it back to its roots. It started out as an intimate card-giving occasion in the mid-1800s but then grew into the second-most-marketed holiday after Christmas. "It became a card and chocolate," Close said. "Then card, chocolate and roses, and then card, chocolate, roses and a lavish night out." Man pleads guilty in death of 6-year-old CORSICANA A man charged with killing a 6-year-old girl whose body was found hanging from the rafters of her family's garage pleaded guilty to capital murder Friday and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Shaun Earl Arender, 21, entered his plea as part of a deal with prosecutors that called for him to testify about the 2007 killing of Hanna Mack. In an hour of testimony, Arender placed the blame on the former live-in boyfriend of Hanna's mother. Hanna's body was found hanging before sunrise on a September morning in the rural town of Navarro Mills, about 65 miles south of Dallas. Arender, who lived near the Mack home, was charged a few weeks after the crime. Court: BNSF railway responsible for cleanup HELENA, Mont.

-BNSF Railway is responsible for cleaning up pollution at the Kalispell site of a former oil refinery, a state judge ruled in a decision that could hit the company with a cleanup bill estimated at $32.5 million. The decision by District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock of Helena came in the first Su-perfund hazardous-waste case that the Montana Department of Environmental Quality had taken to trial. The ruling Thursday defines how Fort Worth-based BNSF or other parties with stakes in Superfund sites are responsible for cleanup, DEQ lawyer Cynthia Brooks said. Men charged with securities violations AUSTIN The Texas Attorney General's Office charged two investment plan owners on Friday with violating state securities laws in schemes that preyed on anxious retirees and teachers. Howard G.

Judah Jr. of Houston and Gregory F. Jablonski of Castle Rock, were accused in a civil enforcement action with failing to make required disclosures, selling unregistered securities and other Texas Securities Act violations. Man gets probation in 2003 slaying AMARILLO-A 26-year-old man received 10 years probation for his ties to the 2003 slaying of a man whose body was buried in concrete beneath a grain elevator in the Texas Panhandle. Michael Stacker of Canyon faced a capital murder charge.

But he was convicted of the lesser aggravated kidnapping of Dustin Pool, the Amarillo Globe-News reported in Friday editions. Higher tuition, higher pay for top UT execs AUSTIN Executives at the University of Texas at Austin saw their take-home pay rise sharply along with steep tuition increases, with some salaries increasing by 30 percent or more in four years, according to an Associated Press analysis. The flagship Texas school abruptly froze the salaries of its top executives last week amid growing calls for fiscal discipline among state agencies and universities. But before that, top administrative salaries had generally been going up at a steady clip, from the office of the president down to the department deans, records analyzed by the AP show. FROM WIRE REPORTS vedShop By The Associated Press Great Falls 23 19 ,03 CIdy Temperatures indicate Friday's high and Helena 34 23 CIdy overnight low to 7 p.m.

Honolulu 81 71 Clr HI Lo Pre Otlk Houston 73 54 .16 Rain Albuquerque 48 29 CIdy Indianapolis 46 28 CIdy Amarillo 54 39 PCIdy Key West 74 65 PCIdy Atlanta 69 42 CIdy Las Vegas 53 37 PCIdy Austin 80 61 CIdy Memphis 67 41 CIdy Baltimore 50 40 CIdy New Orleans 77 59 .04 Rain Boise 42 28 CIdy New York City 43 41 PCIdy Boston 34 32 Clr Oklahoma City 66 51 PCIdy Charleston, S.C. 74 37 Rain Phoenix 63 41 PCIdy Chicago 36 25 CIdy Portland, Ore. 46 38 .01 CIdy Dallas-Ft. Worth 75 55 PCIdy Providence 39 36 Clr Denver 31 22 CIdy San Antonio 78 62 CIdy Des Moines 30 25 ,26 PCIdy Seattle 45 34 CIdy Detroit 38 30 Cold Tucson 64 34 PCIdy El Paso 66 41 PCIdy Washington, D.C. 51 43 CIdy SHI MED-OFT fUHJJCM vulnerable Last year, consumers spent an average of $122.98 on Valentine's Day gifts and merchandise, up from $80 in 2003, according to the National Retail Federation.

With men, Close said, "a lot of it had to do with the whole one-upmanship." This year, however, the average expense is expected to Sunset today: 6:03 p.m. Sunrise Sunday: 7:02 a.m. Nation's high Edinburg: 93 Nation's low Stanley, Idaho: 17 below zero tiuoniumc is a challenge, goes a long way. cm i uninu: Power lift and recline Superb style at an exceptionally lowprice Simple hand held control push button operation Great sitting comfort and relaxation RELIANCE 2500 Traditional tleganct features button tufted ityling for middle to larger tized ufcihs Full power Ufl recline, tide pocket nd head rest, arm covers included. Chairs available in Regular or Wide tizes.

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