Beware of Cowboys Stadium on Saturday. 

More than 75,000 fans are expected to descend on Arlington for the George Strait concert at the Cowboys Stadium, causing the potential for traffic nightmares. 

Officials are encouraging concert attendees to arrive early, being patient when trying leaving and park only in Texas Rangers or Dallas Cowboys' parking. 

"That's the only way we can ensure you won't get towed," said Tiara Ellis, an Arlington police spokeswoman.

I did a story today about depression. How teen depression is impacted by parental depression. Let's just day, depression loves company. I'm really lucky, I've never been depressed. Some days are happier than others, but depressed, no. Anyhoo, the story goes as follows. If a teen is depressed and has a depressed parent, it takes longer for the teen to get better in therapy. The doctor we interviewed suggested that depression is often a family affair. If mom or dad is depressed, chances are junior is going to be depressed. In a whole, it was a depressing story, this coming from someone who has never been depressed.

On Friday, Quick Magazine is putting on a huge concert at the Granada Theater.  Their opening act is Mout Righteous, a cool local marching band that has a unique sound.  I'm on my way to go interview them, and it's going to be on tonight, for Up All Night!  Stay tuned at 9pm!

Cowboys Stadium almost open, but is the idea of parking at the billion dollar facility enough to keep you in your LaZBoy?

 So Amanada and Walt are a chatty as far as anchors go... they talk a lot.

Most of the time they are just talking about their kids.. their families.. their weekends. They always speak up during meetings and while we're writing. It is cute really, they have really good chemistry that translates well on air. It is a producers dream.

So thats why it is funny, for me, to run around scripts during the newscast. It is funny because MOST of the time it is really REALLY quiet on set. I drop off scripts and it is DEAD in the studio. ALL business. I try and say a few things- tell a few jokes... but most of the time I get the silent treatment. Maybe a smile.

They're busy reading scripts, and sending tons of tweets. They send out tweets in between breaks- they're the only anchor team that is ALWAYS connected to the viewers.

Well.. they're quiet, UNTIL Rebecca comes on to the set. Then it is time to chat again! Tonight I can't even tell you what they were laughing about... some inside joke that went over my head.  

While I was taking pictures on the set I also went around and took some more "behind the scenes pictures"

To the left-- this is director. He did not want his picture taken. BUT he is NOT shy. He makes sure everything gets on the air. He punches "buttons" which is actually a very simple term for a very complex job. Without him we would not get video or sound or graphics on the air. You would basically just see Walt and Amanda's faces reading news. Which I bet Walt would have no problem with :)

To the right- the producer. His job begins at 1 pm and is not over until the newscast is through. He is the brain of the entire show. All of the ideas and stories go through him.

 Below is the Chyron Operator.  She makes sure every single "word" or "graphic" or title you see goes on air is for the correct person, at the correct time.                                        

Audio operator- this is probably pretty self explanatory! But look at all those buttons! CRAZY!  

...Continues for me. Yesterday it was traffic & parking leading up to stadium's first event Saturday.

Anyone attend last night's George Strait concert?

What went well at the new stadium?
What was wrong at the new stadium?

I want to hear from you.  Email me @ shanafranklin@tribune.com

What did you think of last night's Grand Opening of Cowboys Stadium? Some of our staff, interns and viewers were at the Big Event and gave us their opinion of the hits and misses.

I'm always trying out new beauty products to see if they measure up to all the hype.  For a week I've been using Cover Girl's 'Exact Eyelight's mascara.  It comes in different tints that are supposed to brighten your eye color.  I went with  a plum shade that is supposed to make my green eyes more intense.  I don't know if it does, but I am liking a softer shade that isn't as dramatic as black.  For summer, consider lightening up your eye liner and mascara to shades of brown or plum, let me know what you think!  Roni 

Image, courtesy Cover Girl

Everyone has one of those days, today it was my turn in the barrel. I started my day on a health related story and then got switched to a story about the GM of the Cowboys stadium reportedly getting arrested for suspicion of DWI. Easy enough, happens a lot in this business. You also make a lot of calls in this business. Tons of calls. Today, the Arlington police did not return my calls, a PR firm did not return my call. The Cowboys did return my call, but would only say "We are aware of the situation." If I had wanted to talk about the beautiful stadium, how shall I say this, my phone would have been ringing off the hook. People not returning calls also happens a lot in this business. Now, on the the part about actually putting the story together. It's called a VO, voice over some video. It's easy, but we could not get my voice recorded on three different pieces of equipment. Finally, we recorded on a second camera in the live truck. Then the edit deck wouldn't work. Finally, we just decided send audio and video back to the station and have our guys back here take care of it. We did get it on, with about four minutes to spare. There must be a gremlin in the equipment because I'm told the problems have been fixed. Tomorrow is another day and it may be just like today, but in the end I feel I'm REALLY lucky to do what I'm doing. See you tomorrow.

That's what some Chrysler dealers are forced to do...starting tonight. Over the past month, I've talked to many car dealers losing their franchises and their employees, but thankfully not their entire livelihoods.

We've had our fair share or rain lately, including west Dallas. The people who live in the lower area are up to their ears in water. Many evacuated this morning because of rising waters. A nearbly pump station was hit by lightening, twice. The motor was fried and workers are trying to fix it as fast as they can. The last thing we need tonight, while the pump is fixed, is more more rain. I hope they work fast and mother nature is slow.

When reporters and anchors talk to each other, they use an IFB. It is an earpiece that is custom fit for their ears.

When you hear those awkward conversations on TV, where the anchor tosses to the reporter in the field, and the reporter can't really hear what the anchor is saying, so they say something weird back, that probably means the reporter can't hear the anchor, and something is the matter with their IFB.

Shana Franklin's IFB isn't working as well, so she had Assignments desk worker Dan Bach make her a new one. She had to put this little mold in her ear, and then sit there for 15 minutes while I laughed at her and took pictures of her.

Then Dan sent the little ear mold off to Wisconsin Ear Mold company. They'll send her a new one in a couple of weeks.

Every news station sends their IFB molds to the Wisconsin Ear Mold Company. They must be raking in the IFB business.

Talk about a fast week. Sometimes when things go just right, things seem to drag and become routine. That can be good for stories because if you schedule things just so, you have more time to work on your story and line up other possible stories. Not this week because of late breaking weather. Jim, in fact, is out on some tonight. Last night I followed a rain story with some late in the day information about a pump that was hit by lightening. That came down after running all over town getting flooding video for story. This week went by fast, but it wasn't boring. Have a good weekend and check the blog on Monday. Have a great weekend.

Or a photojournalist? Or a reporter? Well, some students at Dallas' Lincoln High School are one step ahead of the game. Their documentary on President Barack Obama played today for the first time in public.

I interviewed a UNT grad student who just launched her company, Megan Adams Designs

http://www.meganadamsdesigns.com/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html

(pictures courtesy Megan Adams Designs website)

I found her to be such an interesting, creative, inspiring woman with dreams and aspirations for her promising future.  I will be featuring her tonight, so stay tuned.  But in the mean time, here's a sample of some of her beautiful fabrics.  Cheers, Roni

These are the difficult days when the story is sad and tragic that it just kicks you in the gut. Covering the story of 9-month old Daisja Weaver is about as hard as it gets. This little girl barely had a start in life before her life was taken (on purpose or by accident) and then her lifeless body was tied to a sandbag and dropped in Lake Lewisville (allegedly) by her OWN PARENTS. 

Many of you are ranting what I am also feeling, how can someone do something like this to such an innocent, precious baby. After years of covering stories like Daisja and interviewing the cops who deal with this everyday, you realize there are no answers. You can't fully explain an evil heart.  

Most parents don't have to be told that the summer months are the scariest for teenage drivers. With kids out of school, many are hitting the roads and that can be a dedly combo.

According to experts, May, July and August are the 100 deadliest days of the years. it may be the bad habits of teens that experts say may be to blame. You know the texting, talking on the phone, speeding and even drinking.

So what can a parent do? .. Here are few tips from the folks at Allstate Insurance who sponsored the latest survey of North Texas teen drivers. 

Five Teen Tips

1. Set Road Rules

Establish written expectations for safe driving behaviors. A parent-teen driving contract is available online at allstate.com/teen <http://www.allstate.com/teen> to help parents and teens set guidelines and consequences.

2. Focus on the Road, Not Your Social Life

Driver error causes 87% of all teen driving accidents. Texting, eating and playing with the radio are all easily avoidable driving distractions.

3. Buckle Up and Slow Down

Speeding is the number one cause of fatal crashes involving teen drivers in Texas, followed by failure to wear safety belts.

4. Learn the Law

Remind teens that Texas graduated driver licensing laws restrict nighttime driving and designate passenger limitations for teen drivers.

5. Don't Drink and Drive

My kids are still in elementary school or younger -- so I haven't encountered this problem, yet. So I hope the ideas above give you some helpful answers. 

Just being at gas stations today watching people fill up their tanks stressed me out.

A Grande- "NOT the Walt"

Hilarious.

(above: don't judge! Walt is wearing way more make-up than me)

PS Starbucks liked "The Walt" Video so much, they sent out a tweet about it. 

Starbucks Twitter Page

No, it's not a cover of the campy/cheesy Buster Poindexter song. (I'm showing my age here, I know, but my producer, Mark Shepherd is worse; he's the one who remembered the artist's name). ANYWAY, I'm talking about the weather. Yuck.

Today I interviewed author and gourmet food chef Paul Nison.  He has written 8 books on the raw food diet lifestyle.  His latest book is titled "The Daylight Diet."  Paul eats 2 maybe 3 meals a day. Breakfast which consists of fruit, lunch is a big salad and for a late afternoon meal he eats out at a raw food restaurant or makes a raw food meal at home.  Paul doesn't eat after dark.  He doesn't eat past 4 or 5 pm.  He recommends people sleep on an empty stomach to get the best digestive benefits also eat between the hours of 8am and 5pm. 

I try to not eat after 7:30pm, but that is very hard especially on this schedule.  When I get home, about 10:45 I crave a little snack.  One of our reporter Barry Carpenter eats cereal when he gets home, I usually eat a sandwich.  

I'm going to try a semi-raw food diet.  I like chicken and fish can't quite give it up.

Even though Terrell Owens now works in Buffalo, he's bringing his youth football camp back for a fourth year in Duncanville.

Owens will host the camp at Duncanville High School next Wednesday and Thursday.  The camp is for kids between the ages of 7-17 and will run from 9:00am to 3:00pm each day.

Registration starts at 8:30am and is first come, first served.

My earlier post had a quote from Stephen Jones saying how many of the Cowboys players enjoyed playing with Owens and how much they respected him as a player.  How many of them will be taking part in a goodbye party to Owensto be held Thursday night at the Empire Room in Dallas?  Here's the invitation for farewell party.

Honestly, blogging is the easiest part of my day. Except this week. I'm not a computer expert, but the big company did some switcheroo on things. I have to log in to blog, I've blogged without issue for months and months. Then the switcheroo. On Monday I could not log on to blog. I told Jennifer, our webgirl. Of course when she logged in for me, it worked like a charm (this also happens to me when I take my car to a mechanic). Wendesday rolls around and it happens to me again, so no blogging. Actually, I've lost track of the days I could not blog. It's all a fog. On Thursday, Jennifer logs in as me. I'm not shocked and I'm convinced it's not operator error. All of this brings me to today, Friday, not only did I have trouble logging in, an error page greeted me several times..and get this..Jennifer logged in as me from ANOTHER COMPUTER! Here is the good news, all of my computer issues this week gave me somthing to blog about on Friday. We'll chat Monday. I think.

That is how one Mother decribes the anguish her husband felt when he realized he had left their 6-month old daughter in a hot car for four hours on a sweltering August day. Mika Terry died in that car, while scores of construction workers walked past the car window for hours. 

Michelle Terry shares her story about pain, loss and coping in the wake of the tragedy that took her youngest daughter in hopes of waking up others to what can happen if a parent/caregiver makes just one mistake and forgets. 

Being a mother myself, I found my eyes welling up with tears when Terry described seeing her lifeless child, knowing the baby girl was gone. You have to ask her how she managed to forgive her husband, but she says she doesn't blame him because he is a good Dad.

Terry is an inspirational person, who hopes to make a difference. Her family holds a concert each year in the fall to raise money for awareness. It's called Music 4 Mika. This family because of their hardship is trying to make the world a little safer for other kids. 

Pretty shocking. Michael Jackson is dead. Days like this, you remember. I was working at a TV station in El Paso when it crossed the wires that Princess Diana was dead. I was looking out my apartment window in San Mateo, CA when I heard on the radio Elvis died. Today, I was working on a story in Dallas when I heard Michael Jackson died. These are the days you don't forget.

As of this writing -- we are still awaiting word from the LA Co. coroner's office on the results of Michael Jackson's autopsy. The coroner has promised to say whatever is possible about the results, even though it may take 6-8 weeks to yield results of the toxicology findings.

As you know -- allegations of abuse of prescription drugs are swirling following the death of the pop icon. It is yet to be determined if Jackson died as the result of any legal or illegal drug use. But, experts say as with all celebrity deaths, if Jackson's demise is related to popping pills, it will surely serve as a wakup call to others who may have fallen into a dangerous cycle. 

When you have sold 750 million records and have 13 number one singles, you have influence. Michael Jackson's impact is HUGE. I went to Maximedia studios today and chatted with the cheif engineer there. He was tagged to work on the Jackson Five reunion record in the late 90's, but the record never happened. He says every artist that walks into the studio lists MJ as one of their top five influences. Jay Fankhauser and Lil Twist, two sixteen year old aspiring stars, say Jackson is a huge influence. Jay is inspired by how entertaining Jackson was. Lil Twist liked his style. He even wears a cool Jackson inspired hat. Both are expecting to release records. I've posted a song each from Jay and Lil Twist below. Take a listen, you may be among the first to hear the next Michael Jackson.

http://www.the33tv.com/news/kdaf-barry-jay-fankhauser-wn,0,5769627.worldnowvideo

http://www.the33tv.com/news/kdaf-barry-lil-twist-wn,0,4672632.worldnowvideo

35 year old Shelby Hayes died today, following the same tragic fate as her 38 year old husband, 7 year old son and 55 year old mother.  The group was in Oklahoma when they were involved in a chain-reaction crash that killed 10.

Neighbors I met today are pitching in to take care of the family pets and coordinate with extended family.  They say it is their duty to help where they can.  They are also more eager to get to know their other neighbors, now knowing hoe fleeting life can be.

...a few degrees makes. Thank you Mother Nature and Rebecca Miller. I was a much nicer person than I was yesterday and will be tomorrow.

Acetaminophen. Doctor's say it's in hundreds of over the counter pain killers and fever reducers. You may know the products as Tylenol and Nyquil. Today an FDA panel of experts advised reducing the dosage because of so many unintentional overdoses. Last year, 56 thousand people went to the ER after taking too many pills. It can cause severe liver damage and even death. In the 1990's the drug was reportedly linked to more than 450 deaths. Doses of more than 1,000 mg will likely be by prescription only. A final decision by the FDA is likely months away.

Police say a man is touching young and teenage girls at the city's Tinseltown theatre. They say there are at least 4 instances and the behavior is escalating. It started with the suspect touching feet and legs and has progressed to breasts and buttocks.