First, we’re looking into the road buckling that’s been going on over the last few days.  Obviously, this isn’t a new phenomena here in our area.  We know when it gets hot, these things happen.  But why do they happen?  We got a little bit of a physics lesson this afternoon from UW-Madison professor Clint Sprott — pretty interesting stuff.

Second — we’re taking a quick look at gas prices.  Surprisingly, they’re on a downward trend.  Lots of folks thought with Memorial Day coming up, and with the massive oil leak in the Gulf, we’d see prices soaring.  Not the case.  Why?  Find out tonight at six.

Finally — we need questions!  Have you driven past something for years, and always wondered what it was?  Do you constant ask yourself “why” about common stuff that we rarely question?  Are you just a curious person?  We want to hear from you — send me your Good Questions at goodquestion@channel3000.com.

Have a good one — and stay cool!

This week, the reason why there’s no Good Question is because I’m filling in on our morning show. I love the morning show — the crew is great, I love working with Charlotte and Rob, and it’s just a nice change of pace. But what I don’t like…is the schedule. I don’t know how the regular crew does this. One of our producers, Stacey, comes in at 11pm and works overnights…our anchors are usually in by 3am or so…and our segment producer, Leah, comes in at 3:30am — along with the rest of the “behind the scenes” crew.  Leah also produces the noon newscast.

I’ve been rolling in right around 3:30am. It’s rough. I set my alarm for 2:15…hit snooze about three times…and eventually drag myself out of bed. If I’m filling in for multiple days, I usually hit a “wall” on day three. That’s today — and the wall was huge this morning! But I eventually crawled out of bed and made it in…so we could be on the air at 5am.  Managers here are awesome…because they usually let me just go home after the 8:55 Early Show cut-in is done.  So it’s a shorter day for me…which is nice…but then I head right home to sleep.

I give mad-props to our awesome morning show crew for doing this every — like I said before, I don’t know how they do it!!

Anyone out there have a crazy work schedule like that? If so, what do you do when it comes to sleep? Do you nap…do you sleep in the morning/afternoon….do you sleep in the evening? I like to take advantage of the day, if I’m not too tired…so I try to take two four-hour naps. Sometimes it’s just not possible…but I try.

Looking forward to hearing your responses.

Good night…and see you next week Tuesday for the return of GOOD QUESTION!

We asked our viewers later on what they thought about the ad … specifically, we asked folks to text in whether they thought they ad will help Brett in his decision, not help, or if they just don’t care about it.

We got a whopping 380 responses!  And while that’s impressive on the surface, the devil is in the details.  My boss, Colin, took the time to dig a little deeper and looked at some of the phone numbers that texted in a response.  Turns out ONE person voted 297 times!! And what did they vote for?  You guessed it:  “don’t care.”

So to you crazy texter…thanks for not caring enough to text us your response 297 times!

Have you noticed the name of Toyota’s president?  He’s appeared on newscasts several times…mostly in making statements about Toyota’s recent recall problems.  His name is Akio Toyoda.  There’s no typo there — his last name is spelled with a “d” rather than a “t.”  Weird, huh?

Akio Toyoda is the grandson of Toyota’s founder, Kiichiro Toyoda.  He created the company back in 1937 — it was the new automobile side of his father’s loom-making company.

Back then, cars were sold under the “Toyoda” name — the company then decided to hold a public competition to design a new logo for the automaker.  The challenge from Toyoda was to create a logo that “expressed a feeling of speed.”  The winning entry was three Japanese katakana letters (for Toyota) in a circle.  But for some reason, it just didn’t sit well with one of the family members — it was just too much work to scribe the logo.  So the name was officially changed to “Toyota” — which only takes eight brush strokes to write.  And eight is like seven here in the U.S. — it’s a very lucky number.  It was also visually simpler, and sounded more clear when spoken.  The logo was altered … and Toyota was born!

Nevermind the fact that toyoda, in Japanese, means fertile rice paddies.  Not very marketable when you’re trying to sell cars!  So the Toyoda family wanted to dissociate that name with their automobile — and changing one letter gave the company a whole new, different identity.

In August 1937, Toyota became official…and the name was trademarked and registered.

Now you know…

In the interest of full disclosure … let me first say that I’m in a football pool, and I picked the Vikings to win.  Not because I like the Vikings — in fact, it’s quite the opposite.  But I felt they were the better team and they’d come off with the win.  In that same pool, I also put the Packers in the Super Bowl — that shows you how good I am at pools.

But I’m curious to know if any of you had a hard time “picking sides” last night.  The hardest part for me was the Favre factor.  I love the man — he’s a legend when it comes to football.  I still haven’t “forgiven” him for his actions when he left the Packers…but I’ve gotten over it.  He did what he had to do to continue to play the sport.  I get it.

If Favre was playing for any other team…I probably would have been rooting for that team last night.  But rooting for the Vikings goes against everything I was raised to do in life!!

So even though part of me wanted to see Favre win and go to the Super Bowl again…and I did pick the Vikings to win last night…the evening was a difficult one.  I found myself watching the game silently…not really cheering for anyone.  What a fun night, huh?  Although I am really happy the Saints are heading to the Super Bowl.  What a deserving team…should be a fun match-up to watch.

Who did you cheer for last night, and why?

goodquestion@channel3000.com

What a great question.  But it’s a really hard one to answer.  However, I think I’ll answer it two ways.

First — every question is a good question.  I know…it sounds like your elementary school teacher back in the day.  But it’s true…there are no bad questions.

But I think Eric was going more so for an answer related to my weekly TV segment.  We’ll phrase it, “What make a Good Question for TV?”  This is a great one, as well…because we get quite a few emails every week — many of them unfortunately are not “Good Question” worthy.  Here’s why:

A “Good Question,” first off, has to be one that is visual.  We work in a very visual medium…so those pictures are very important.

Second — while it’s not hugely important, having a topic that’s timely is great.  Today’s TV story was a perfect example: “What’s the reason behind all this cold weather?”

Third — it has to have an answer that’s not too complex…but also one that’s not just a simple one sentence answer.  We have to try to fill a few minutes in our newscast!

In the case of our TV segment…I will say, yes, there is such a thing as a bad question!  I once had a viewer email me, asking me if we could help her sell her like-new, slightly used dishwasher.  Clever…but no!  That’s what Craigslist is for.

Hopefully that gives you some insight on what kind of Good Questions we’re looking for.  While it’s true that every question is a good question…they have to meet some criteria for our weekly Good Question segment.

Thanks for the “Good Question,” Eric!  Now get to work…send me some questions!  My inbox is always open:  goodquestion@channel3000.com.

Speaking of that…here’s a Good Question for you…what are your thoughts on New Year’s resolutions?  Do you make them….do you follow them…are they a waste of time?  I usually don’t call them “resolutions” — but I do set goals each year.

Let me know your thoughts!

GOOD QUESTION is off for another week…with the holidays, schedules are a mess.  I’m working some crazy shifts this week…then the morning show next week.  So I hope to have a GOOD QUESTION for you on Tuesday, Jan. 12.

Until then, have a great and safe New Year’s….and hope you had a great holiday!  Keep your GOOD QUESTIONS coming:  goodquestion@channel3000.com.

And by amazing…I mean AMAZING!  You’ll have to check out my story, but let’s that 21- year old Scott Skelly…the youngest in the Skelly family…is in charge of doing the farm’s corn maze every year.  It’s a tradition he started when he was just 10 years old.  Now, he’s made a business out of it — and he’s traveled the country, creating 20 corn mazes this year alone.

WATCH THE STORY HERE!

To check out their maze, and other fun family stuff this season, click here.  If you’d like more information about other area corn mazes, click here.

Happy Fall!

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin state representative doesn’t want swine flu to be called swine flu.

   Democratic state Rep. Phil Garthwaite of Dickeyville is sponsoring a nonbinding resolution asking state agencies and the media to call the virus “2009 H1N1 Influenza.” It is scheduled to be voted on Thursday by the Assembly.

   Numerous state and federal government officials, along with the pork industry, have asked that the flu virus be called H1N1.

   Garthwaite says calling the virus swine flu can make people afraid of eating pork products even though there is no risk.

   The Associated Press is referring to the virus as swine flu because experts say it began in pigs and most of its genetic makeup is from pig viruses, although there are human and bird genes, too.

We don’t really have a clear-cut rule here…but in stories, we’ve been saying things like, “the H1N1 virus — commonly referred to as the Swine Flu…”

I’m curious to get your thoughts on this.  The Associated Press is exactly right…experts do say that the virus began in pigs, and most of its genetic makeup is swine related.  But…again…there are human and bird genes in the virus, too.

What do you think?  Leave me a comment, or drop me a line at goodquestion@channel3000.com.

Our story today focuses on why police, as of recently, are publicizing the fact that they’re running these special speed enforcement patrols.  And not only are they telling us, and inviting us to tell you…they’re also telling where and when they’ll be out.  Why do they do that…and does it work?  It’s our Good Question tonight at six.

And if you’re wondering…here’s what the MPD’s Traffic Enforcement Safety Team (T.E.S.T.) is up to the rest of the week:

Wednesday, Sept. 2 – John Nolen Drive (police will be cracking down on red light violations)

Thursday, Sept. 3 – 600 block of John Nolan Dr. (police will be doing speed patrols)

Drive safe…and don’t say you haven’t been warned!