We knew all along that Taryn Winter Brill was too good to stay in a local market for long.

So it should come as no surprise that Brill, one of the only reasons to tune into Channel 31's "Good Day Sacramento," has landed a national TV gig barely two months after leaving our fair city.

She starts Thursday as an entertainment reporter for ABC's "Good Morning America" (7-9 a.m. on Channel 10). Brill will do live and taped segments.

And, we hear, she will keep her tresses curly.

Blogger Cool DMZ at the snark-saturated Sacrag.com apparently made a horrible mistake at the video store the other day: He believed Mark S. Allen and watched one of the movies he endorsed.

"Good Day Sacramento's" Allen, one of the nation's most, uh, accomplished blurbmeisters, has a typically bombastic quote on the cover of the "August Rush" DVD: "“Your heart will be singing and your spirit will soar!”

DMZ, after watching the hideous movie, wrote: "Replace heart with bowels, and spirit with desire to physically damage your television, and you got yourself a quote."

Read all of Cool DMZ's blog post, which we think is much more entertaining than "August Rush," here.

Proving that its classic "Cat Stuck in a Tree" exclusive wasn't a fluke, Channel 3 now is documenting the saving of magpies in trees.

Obviously, those KCRA newshounds will not rest until all varmints are out of every tree in town.

Enjoy the video.

We reported a few weeks ago that Dan Adams, News10's intrepid VJ (video journalist), would be retiring March 28. Hey, that's this Friday.

In preparation for his signoff, Adams has posted this farewell blog post on News10's Web site. It's heartfelt, but not maudlin - just like Adams.

He talks about the, ahem, glory days when he started at News10, working out of a "closet-size room" at a medical/dental building in Stockton as the station's bureau chief. And Adams also explains how he is able to retire at age 55: good financial planning.

A journalist who saves money? Who woulda thunk it.

Fox40's competent and thorough reporter Mike Bond was doing a live report Sunday night from the scene of a candlelight vigil in Del Paso Heights on the one-year anniversary of a seemingly random killing.

As Bond was talking about how the police are hoping someone would come forward with information about the killing of Jelisa Office outside a house party last year, the photographer scanned the vigil crowd and hit upon a man wearing this T-shirt emblazoned in a stop-sign design: "Stop Snitching."

Kind of illustrates, don't you think, how difficult the police's job will be trying to get information on this case.

UPDATE, 12:40 p.m.: Your, uh, incompetent and shallow 21Q correspondent got it wrong. Reporter Mike Bond never mentioned that police are still looking for a gunman in the killing, but Bond also never mentions that anyone's in custody. We just assumed the killer was still at large. In fact, The Bee reported last April that a 16-year-old was arrested in the case. So, apparently, someone didn't "stop snitching" soon enough.

It's rare for local news radio - or, heck, local TV, too - to step off the crime-politics-Britney hamster wheel of coverage and give us an-indepth arts story. So we have to give kudos to KXJZ (90.9 FM), Sacramento's NPR affiliate, for doing just that.

Paul Conley this morning aired a lengthy interview with jazz violinist Regina Carter that would be interesting even to those who think Jean-Luc Ponty is the goalie for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Included: this anecdote about Carter's disbelief at being awarded a half-million-dollar MacArthur "genius" grant - a big deal in the arts world.

"First when he called, I actually said, ‘You know, I’m sorry, I can’t give any money right now, maybe in a couple of months.’ I thought they were calling for money. He says, ‘No, no, we’re actually calling because you’ve been nominated and we’re giving you, you know, this amount of money.’ And I said ‘Who is this?’ And he says ‘No, you obviously have never heard of the MacArthur Foundation.’ I said ‘I have, but why would you be calling me?’ And he explained the whole thing again. I said give me your name and your number and I said I’ll call you back.

Carter logged onto the MacArthur Web site, confirmed the caller’s identity and quickly called back.

“And I remember when I hung up, I just sat there for a long time stunned, staring out the living room window.”

Our Bee blogging brethren (hey, try saying that three times fast) at Capitol Alert have followed up on the Channel 13 ethnic-slur controversy regarding graphics of legislator Don Perata (pictured) as a mafia figure.

Read the post here.

Your humble local media writer isn't the only one out there whose eyebrows (and ire) are routinely raised by the tabloid nature, and just plain insensitive reporting style, of Channel 13.

Our sister blog, Capitol Alert, today reports that Channel 13's stunt of showing a graphic of Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata as an apparent Mafia leader, pointing a gun skyward, has angered Italian Americans.

The anchor who delivered the story?

Yup, you guessed it: Chris Burrous.

Check out Bee staff writer Jim Sanders' blog item here.

We are more than a week into the Eliot Spitzer story, and late-night comedians and editorial cartoonists are starting to run out of material.

But, fear not, you Spitzer wags.

Advertising and entrepreneurs have stepped forth to keep the story in our collective consciousness.

Here's a shameless plug preview of what you'll see in Thursday's Ad Hawk feature in The Bee.

Above is the Virgin Mobile cell phone ad featuring the philandering New York Guv. And below is an ad for Balvine Single Malt Scotch and the newly minted "Spitzer 9" baseball-style T-shirt available on shirtaday.com.

Audrey Farrington, who for nine years served as vice president and general manager of Fox40 (KTXL), announced to the staff today that she will leave her position in two weeks.

Farrington declined to be interviewed, but sent a statement to The Bee via e-mail.

"It's my decision," she wrote. "I'm proud of what we have accomplished during my tenure and I leave a terrific team in place. I wish everyone well moving forward."

She did not detail her future plans.

The Tribune company, Fox40's owner, did not make Ed Wilson, president of Tribune Broadcasting, available to discuss the specifics of Farrington's departure or to talk about when a replacement for her will be named.

But Wilson, through a spokesman, released a statement of his own: "Over the last few weeks, Audrey's thought a lot about her role at KTXL-TV and come to the conclusion that she wants to resign from her duties as general manager. She's been with the station as GM since 1999 and, before that, spent 10 years there as director of programming and creative services. Her commitment to the station was unquestionable and we wish her the best."

Farrington has worked for KTXL for nearly 20 years, including 10 as the station's program director and creative services and promotions director. For two years, she was the director of programming at KTLA in Los Angeles, but returned in 1999 when Mike Fisher resigned as the station's general manager.

Station sources say Farrington's departure was not related to the recent takeover of the Tribune company by flamboyant billionaire Sam Zell, who visited the Fox40 newsroom about a month ago. In recent months, Fox40 has added reporters for its 10 p.m. newcast, hired a morning meteorologist and revamped its Website to feature videos.

We knew it was coming, this being Holy Week and all.

Fox40 recently aired a story about a Citrus Heights man, Manny Duenas, who claims to have found an image of the Virgin Mary in a palm tree branch (see photo above) that he was trimming. "When I saw it, I had the goose bumps and I (was thinking), let me share this with my family."

He also shared it with the media.

Not to ruin reporter Jaime Soriano's hopes for an Emmy for this "report," but I just don't see the image in the branch.

What this does show is that local TV news eats up this kind of story.

We've had News10 telling us about the Virgin Mary in a muffin pan; Fox40 finding Jesus on a Lodi fence post; Fox40 finding Jesus and Mary on a pancake, and Channel 13 on a Yuba County woman who saw the face of Jesus burned into the wallpaper after a house fire.

Maybe I'm just too skeptical. Here's a gallery. Decide for yourself:

Look to your right. Yeah, over there. See it?

21Q finally - finally! - has posted its blog roll (actually dubbed "Links to Check Out," because not all of the links are blogs).

These are links that the 21Q Five often visit. Do not consider it an endorsement of the viewpoints expressed on these sites. They are just thought-provoking and deal with the same issues we chew over here.

We've also added easy buttons for you to share 21Q with your friends and enemies.

Enough of the self-promotion.

Now, back to the snark.

Who says our favorite local non-mainstream media blog doesn't deal in reportage? Sacrag.com posted this "investigative" piece, blowing the lid off something I've been wondering each time I order a turkey and avocado sub (see photo) at Togo's.

Read the scoop here.

Lesson learned: Always say your order is to-go.

He's Will Frampton (pictured), hired three weeks ago to replace Monika Diaz (now in Dallas). He's the first new full-time reporter News10 has hired in nearly three years.

News10 plucked him from a sister Gannett-owned station, WLTX in Columbia, S.C. A native son of the state, Frampton retains a charming Southern accent - but I'm sure consultants will tell him to lose that, post haste.

While at WLTX, Frampton spent three weeks embedded with the 218th Brigade Combat Team in Kabul, Afghanistan.

After helping guide the post-Steve Charlier Channel 13 through the February sweeps as interim news director, Cameryn Beck (pictured) was appointed to the permanent position on Tuesday.

Bruno Cohen, president of channels 13 and 31, says Beck proved herself during the stresses of sweeps month and that she's gained the confidence of the staff. Beck, who came to CBS13 from Channel 3 in late 2005, had been the executive producer of Channel 13's news.

"She's a really charismatic leader - positive, upbeat and treats people with respect," Cohen says. "She makes employees want to root for her to do well and make the broadcast better."

Indeed, Beck may help Channel 13 heal from its PCSD - Post-Charlier Stress Disorder. Under Charlier's blustery leadership, Channel 13 changed almost its entire reporting lineup and fostered much rumbling in the rank and file. Charlier left Channel 13 in late January to join a start-up TV firm in the Midwest.

"Cameryn is a very collaborative person," Cohen says.

Here's the memo Cohen sent to staffers today:

It is my pleasure to announce the appointment of Cameryn Beck as News Director of CBS13 (KOVR). Cameryn joined us in August 2005 as executive news producer and was promoted in August 2007 to assistant news director. During the last month she has ably served as interim news director. I am continually impressed by her journalistic judgment, her innovative approach to newscast production and development and her charismatic, fair-minded leadership. It's particularly rewarding to be able to promote a very deserving member of our own organization - and to place a Sacramento native with thorough knowledge of the coverage area and deep roots in the community - into such an important position. Brent Baader will continue in his role as news director for "Good Day Sacramento" on CW31. Brent and Cameryn will both report to me. Please join me in congratulating Cameryn on her promotion and in providing her and Brent with your complete support. - Bruno

By day, Erik Candiani works as a Channel 13 creative services guy who makes those wacky 30-second promos.

By night, he's a budding filmmaker trying his hand at TV advertising. He entered a user-generated commercial contest sponsored by Tide - featuring the talking "spot" the company used in its Super Bowl ad.

This week, Candiani learned his ad is one of 10 finalists. Watch it on YouTube (above), but to vote thumbs up or down for Candiani, you must be a registered YouTube user.

His commercial is called "The Date," and it features local actors Brian Rife and Teri Flores. It was shot at Awful Annie's restuarant in Lincoln.

Dave Walker and KCRA co-anchor/wife Lois Hart

Following up on our posting Monday about outrageous local TV news "teasers," reader Laura Breedlove passes along this anecdote:

A handful of friends were over for a regular Monday-night viewing of "Heroes" (pre-strike, of course), and we tended to mute the commercials to try and analyze what just occurred in the story. While the volume was muted, Dave Walker appeared on screen, “teasing” the 11 o’clock news. His headline: “Too Sexy?” No idea what story was being teased. But the headline lives with us for eternity. We all thought to ourselves: Yes Dave, yes you are.

Sacramento's only "classic" oldies station, K-HITS (92.1 FM), has been sold by longtime owner First Broadcasting of Dallas to Results Radio, which owns and operates 11 radio stations in Northern California.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and it is expected to be finalized by the Federal Communications Commission within a few months.

K-HITS, which officially still carries the call letters KCCL, was the fourth format in as many years tried by First Broadcasting to improve ratings. The station had previously tried country music, a "Bob" (play anything) format, '80s rock and, since January of 2007, oldies from the '60s to '80s.

In the most recent Arbitron ratings survey, KCCL finished 22nd out of 31 Sacramento stations in the 12-plus demographic with a 1.3 rating.

Jack Fritz, owner of Results Radio, was unavailable for comment Tuesday. But Barry Cooper, the chief financial officer, says from his Santa Rosa office that the company is committed to improving the station.

Cooper also says there are no immediate plans to change the format of K-HITS.

"Our plans are simple: to make it a radio station that's performing well and is a profitable entity," says Cooper, who pointed out that Results Radio-owned stations in Redding, Chico and Yuba City are top-rated in their areas.

"We hope to do the same thing in Sacramento," Cooper adds.

First Broadcasting chief executive Gary Lawrence says in a statement that the company is "transitioning" away from radio in favor of television and wireless media.

"We are delighted that longtime local broadcaster Jack Fritz and his partners are acquiring KCCL," Lawrence says in the statement. "Jack is very community-foused and an outstanding station operator."

Florence Low/flow@sacbee.com

Shameless plug alert: Be sure to check out Tuesday's Media Savvy column. It deals with changes at Sacramento's local PBS affiliate, KVIE, with the hiring of executive producer Lynn Margherita (pictured), whose background is in (gasp!) cable TV.

KVIE's apparent push to enliven its programming echoes the debate going on nationally about the relevancy of PBS.

The first salvo was fired by Charles McGrath, respected critic-at-large for the New York Times, whose commentary was provocatively titled: "Is PBS Still Necessary?"

A week or so later, PBS filmmaker Ken Burns ("The War") fired back with an op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times titled: "Standing Up for Public Television."

Read both essays and decide for yourself. Better yet, read Tuesday's Media Savvy column. (Yes, I'm pimping my own story - sorry.)

News10 anchor Dale Schornack 's blog is chock-full o' blasts from his past. And his latest entry features his "moment" with John McCain in 1991, when Schornack was leaving Phoenix for an anchor job in Dallas.

Check it out here.

More alarmingly, check out McCain's truly atrocious comb-over. We don't deal in political endorsements here at 21Q, but how can we elect a man who once sported this hairstyle?

There's a great audio clip, courtesy of the blog Lost Remote, sending up local TV news "teases" during sweeps months - or, heck, any time.

This satire comes close, but doesn't quite eclipse real teases we've heard in Sacramento, led, of course, by Channel 13.

My fave: Channel 3's now-classic "Cat Stuck in a Tree" (below).

Sacramento public radio listeners, a loyal lot, have survived lo these many years without traffic reports on KXJZ (90.9 FM) during NPR's "Morning Edition" and the afternoon "All Things Considered."

Now, they no longer have to be surprised when there's an unexpected slowdown on the Cap City Freeway (as opposed to all the expected slowdowns). KXJZ's local anchors (Steve Milne and Donna Apidone) have started delivering traffic updates, courtesy of Traffic.com (the same outfit that Channel 3 uses).

Says news director Joe Barr in an e-mail: "We wanted more than just an on-air service and Traffic.com has a great online component. Not only will we have on-air reports five times an hour during 'Morning Edition' and four times an hour during 'All Things Considered,' but, starting Monday, listeners can go to our Web site to create customized traffic reports for their routes. They can also have customized reports sent to them by e-mail, text message or voicemail...with more to come...."

"The bottom line is that our listeners had been asking for us to provide traffic information and we've responded."

AccessSacramento, the cable-access channel that already streams its programming on its Web site, now has a channel on YouTube where it will post snippets from stories and programs (such as the video of Old Sac airbrush artist Alan Silva, above).

Veteran News10 reporter Dan Adams, a four-time regional Emmy Award winner who became the Sacramento market's first "video journalist" in 2006, is retiring. His last day at News10 will be March 28.

Adams, 55, says in an e-mail that "there's no behind-the-scenes scandal or anything like that...but life holds some more adventures for me, and it's time to start them."

And no, you in the TV business who cringe at the "one-man-band" trend of reporters shooting and editing their own stories, Adams is not leaving because he was forced to be a VJ.

In fact, Adams volunteered to do it. And now others at News10 are going the VJ route. Anchor Dale Schornack has even blogged about how excited he is about VJing.

Anyway, Adams tells us he's moving to Mexico to enjoy the good life. (One word of advice, Dan: Sunscreen.)

This is a significant loss for News10. News director Stacy Owen could not be immediately reached for comment.

UPDATE: March 10, 2:45 p.m.: Stacy Owen emails a comment on Adams: "Dan is that rare combination of seasoned veteran and trailblazer. He has something that is so hard to find these days - a natural gift for looking at things with a critical eye. He takes nothing at face value, and is not one to accept any one perspective. That's why his decision to become a "one man band" was so significant. He saw the opportunity in being able to have creative control from beginning to end. Yet he doesn't just accept that this is the answer for our industry. He is still challenging us. In so doing, he is once again setting an example for his peers and for the industry."

Read Adams' extensive bio here.

The 2008 National City And Regional Magazine Awards finalists were announced today, and Sacramento's bi-monthly publication, Sactown, received a nomination.

Senior contributing photographer Max Whittaker's photo essay from Afghanistan, "In Harm's Way" (see screen grab above from Sactown's June/July issue), was named a finalist for Best Photo Essay in all circulation categories. Whittaker's competition: Chicago magazine and Hour Detroit.

Alas, Sacramento's thriving magazine scene was shut out in the General Excellence categories and in writing and design awards.

Such unprofessional behavior displayed in the above video (hang around for the second minute of the clip, which is hilarious) by local TV news professionals would never happen in classy Sacramento.

No, we only have anchors giving beer to the homeless.

The Sac State Hornet and UC Davis Aggie newspapers fared well at two recent college journalism contests.

In a contest sponsored by the Associated Collegiate Press, the State Hornet finished first overall for “Interactive Elements” on its Web site. The Hornet also finished fourth nationally for newspaper Web sites and third for podcasting. And, in the print competition, Sac State finished seventh nationally in the Four-Year Weekly Broadsheet category. (The national champ for Four-Year Weekly Broadsheet was Sac State’s rival to the north, The Orion at Chico State.)

In the California College Media Association contest, the Aggie had some impressive showings in the contentious daily-newspaper category. The Aggie finished first for Best Editorial (staff), Best Feature Photo (Musa Zaid) and Best Cartoon (Kevin Burk). Overall, the Aggie won eight state awards.

The Hornet, competing in the weekly newspaper category, won first place for Best News Page Design (Ashley Evans), and had six other top-three finishes.

Meanwhile, in high school media competitions, advisor Brendan Hogan at Christian Brothers High School reports that his student-run TV news and sports operation, KBFT, has garnered some honors as well:

* At the spring nationals for student television, Christian Brothers won first place for live sports coverage (a boys basketball game). It also won first place for live daily or weekly news show.

* Students Austin Otto and Brittany Young placed second in a spot feature on-site contest at the 2008 Student Television Network Convention in Anaheim in January. Students Nathan Domek and Joel Johnston had an honorable mention in the Show Opening category.

Last year, KBFT did very well at the STN spring nationals with two first place awards.

Screen shot from News10's "exclusive" story

I'm shocked - shocked! - to learn that local TV news outlets sometimes lift stories from newspapers and then try to pass them off as "exclusives."

OK, enough sarcasm.

What truly surprised me was that News10 had the fortitude to admit it should not have used an "exclusive" graphic on a recent story out of Stockton; it later removed the word from the story on its Web site.

(Here's another peeve that I see occasionally on Sac TV news: Using the "breaking news" graphic when the news actually broke hours ago and a reporter is doing a standup in front of a mostly deserted crime scene. But that's a rant for another time....)

Anyway, News10 assistant news director Michael Langley, who pulls no punches in his blog postings and often talks about the station's decision-making, issued a mea culpa in his latest entry.

(Since News10's blogs do not provide linking to individual posts, I'm pasting Langley's post below. Langley's prose is in italics; the viewer's comments are in quotation marks.)

Blog On This...
I have always maintained that I will post within this space the good, the bad and the questionable. Today, we have the bad, as illustrated by Bryan who sent me an email (the title of this post is the subject line of his email) about a story on news10.net this weekend.

"I'd like to know your station's policy on the use of 'exclusive.' My guess is your staff strayed from that policy this weekend, on at least a couple of levels.

"I logged on to your web site to find an 'exclusive' label placed on a story about a Stockton mother who lost her young son to violence and was now moving out of town.

"What made this exclusive? I read several newspapers a day and saw this story on the front page of the Stockton Record newspaper. All you did was steal the idea and put it on TV. So how is that exclusive?"

Bryan, thank you for calling us on this. You're right. We called something exclusive that was not. We failed in a couple of ways in part because of our zeal for the story, the powerful emotion displayed by the mother we interviewed and my own failure to question that fact when it was reported to me.

Bryan, and all, though we do not have an ombudsman I thank you for writing me. We will do better next time.

So we know that "American Idol" is a ratings boon for Fox nationally, but what about the local numbers?

Well, in the just-concluded February sweeps period, Fox40 easily earned the highest prime-time ratings, largely based on two nights of "Idol," plus "House" and other high network performers.

Here's the breakdown (Monday through Sunday):

Fox40: 8.5
CBS13: 6.9
News10: 5.7
Channel 3: 5.1
Channel 19: 2.4
Channel 31: 1.6
My58TV: 1.2

Want more "Idol" numbers for Sacramento?

As of last week, Fox40's ratings stood at a whopping 20.6, highest of any of the seven seasons. And so far this year, Tuesday nights are drawing slightly more viewers (21.9) than Wednesday nights (19.7).

Here's the full-season average ratings for Sacramento since the show's inception:

2002: 13.6
2003: 14.8
2004: 15.9
2005: 15.9
2006: 18.3
2007: 20.3
2008 (so far): 20.6

KBMB (The Bomb, 103.5 FM) has found a replacement for ousted Davey D and he's syndicated hip hop DJ Big Boy. He started Monday and assumed Davey D's 5-10 a.m. spot.

Check out an extended sound bite of Big Boy riffing about a meeting in Vegas with Michael Jackson. Don't worry, it's safe for work.

Want to know more about Big Boy? Here's his Web site.

Without a doubt, this Channel 3 piece on a Chick-fil-A cow mascot - actually a woman shown out of, er, uniform and being interviewed by Richard Sharp - who was harassed in Elk Grove is the leading contender for LOL story of the week.

Then again, it's only Tuesday.

Kudos to Sharp for managing to keep a straight face throughout, especially when the 19-year-old ex-mascot gave this sound bite: "I want the next cow to go out there and stand on the street to have better protection than I had."

Hey, who said California cows are happy cows?

Had Channel 13 done this report, it would've played up the danger and used the alliteration: "Mascot Mauling" and speculated that the Mr. Pickles mascot on Fulton would be the next target.

If you're looking for an educational opportunity for your civic-minded child, or if you're one of those political wonks who lurk around the Capitol, you're in for a treat.

C-Span, the governmental geek's channel of choice, will bring its "Campaign 2008" bus to the Sacramento area on Tuesday and hang around until Thursday before moving on.

The bus is a 45-foot mobile production studio that travels around the country to record campaign events for C-Span viewers. C-Span and Comcast are sponsoring the bus stop, which has been to 29 state cpaitals, 71 colleges and 95 schools.

So where can you catch it?

* Tuesday: 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., it'll be at Inderkum High School (2500 New Market Drive, Sacramento). Mayor Heather Fargo is expected to drop by.

* Wednesday: 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., it'll be at Sac State (6000 J St.), parked in front of the Hornet bookstore. Then, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., it'll be at the state Capitol (1107 L St.), on the north side, near 11th and L.

* Thursday: 8 a.m.to 11:45 a.m., it'll be at Folsom High School (1655 Iron Point Road, Folsom). Secretary of State Debra Bowen will be there.

Yes, it's true. We can't make this stuff up.

National Public Radio's erudite host of "Fresh Air," Terry Gross, will appear Sunday night as a guest voice on "The Simpsons" (at 8 p.m. on Channel 40). Gross will be guest-starring with actor Topher Grace. (Now, there's a pairing we never thought we'd see.)

In the episode, Gross' dulcet tones and brainy banter will be heard on a car radio by the Simpson clan.

Says Gross in an NPR press release: “When I'm hosting Fresh Air, I try to sound as natural as possible. But when I was recording 'The Simpsons,' the director kept suggesting I sound ‘more cartoonish.’ So I had to channel my inner cartoon self.”

Local Angle Alert: Gross will be speaking - seriously, not cartoonishly - at the Mondavi Center in Davis on April 21 at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $29-$40.

Well, the February sweeps period is mercifully over, which means we'll no longer be subjected to reports such as Channel 3's man-boobs reduction story (see video above) or Channel 13's latest we're-all-going-to-die scare story.

Which station racked up the big victories?

No surprises here.

Channel 3, as always, dominated at 5 and 6 p.m. - no station even comes close. In the morning, Channel 31's "Good Day Sacramento" beat Channel 3 in the 5-5:30 a.m. segment, but Channel 3 rebounded in other morning time slots.

KCRA also came out ahead in the noon hour, which is becoming a battleground between channels 3 and 13 - Walt Gray and Co. ekked out a 3.2 to 2.7 edge over Stefanie Cruz and CBS13.

In the always contentious late news, where advertisers really take notice, the winner depends on which station's spin you believe. Channel 13 has long maintained that its 10 p.m. news should be compared evenly with Channel 3's at 11 p.m., but the KCRA suits say only head-to-head competition should count.

In any case ...

CBS13 came in with a 5.4 rating at 10 p.m., Channel 3 with 4.7 at 11. News10, meanwhile, is nipping at the heels of KCRA at 11, finishing only .4 behind.

Meanwhile, here's a trend that no local TV suit will like: Viewership is either down or relatively flat in all time slots compared to previous sweeps periods. Could it be lingering effects from the writers' strike? Or are people just getting their news from other sources?

UPDATE (Feb. 29, 8:30 a.m.): An alert reader asks why we left out KCRA's 6:30 p.m. news - which has no competition from other local news outlets. "Don't Dave and Lois deserve a little respect for their hard work?" the reader asks. OK, so here goes: At 6:30, Channel 3 had a 6.4 rating, beating out "Jeopardy!" on News10 (5.8) and "Entertainment Tonight" on Channel 13 (4.5).

The numbers:

5 a.m.
Good Day Sacramento: 2.1
KCRA Reports: 2.0
News10 Good Morning: 1.3
CBS13.com: 0.8

6 a.m.
KCRA Reports: 4.1
Good Day Sacramento: 2.7
News10 Good Morning: 2.6
CBS13.com: 1.3
KUVS (Univision): 0.9
Fox40: 0.6

7 a.m. - 9 a.m.
Today (KCRA): 4.4
Good Morning America (News10): 2.9
Good Day Sacramento: 3.0 (7 a.m. hour). 2.4 (8 a.m.)
My58TV (KCRA sister station): 1.0 (7 a.m.), 0.8 (8 a.m.)
Fox40: 0.6

Midday news
KCRA: 3.2 (noon)
News10: 2.8 (11 a.m.)
CBS13: 2.7 (noon)

5 p.m.
KCRA: 9.4
CBS13: 3.4
News10: 3.0

6 p.m.
KCRA: 8.8
News10: 4.0
CBS13: 3.0
KUVS (Univision): 2.1

Late news
10 p.m.
CBS13: 5.4
Fox40: 3.8
My58TV (half hour only): 2.2

11 p.m.
KCRA: 4.7
News10: 4.3
KUVS: 1.3

The niche Sacramento-based magazine "California Golf & Lifestyle" has been acquired by Anthony Glover and his burgeoning high-end LuxLife Media, and a big relaunch of the bimonthly print and online publication will come soon, Glover says.

Unlike LuxLife - the lifestyle magazine that has a targeted audience (read: the ultra rich) - "Golf & Lifestyle" (apparently, they're dropping the "California," perhaps to attract a bigger audience) will be a subscription model. Mary Burroughs, who had been publisher, will remain as managing editor and creative director.

Glover, in a prepared statement, apparently couldn't help himself and fell back on sporting cliches: "To borrow from golf-speak, due to the overwhelming positive response, it seems we've 'picked the right club.' The golf world is eager for a magazine devoted to the golf and lifestyle side of the game."

Check out the Web site here.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel photo

No, not for former news director Steve Charlier, who recently left to run a syndicate of stations in the Midwest.

We're talking about Lori Waldon (pictured), the former assistant news director, who fled the Channel 13 madness after just a year and now is the news director of WISN, an ABC affiliate in Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently published a glowing profile of Waldon.

UPDATE (Feb. 28, 6:30 p.m.): Channel 3 news director Anzio Williams checks in and gives a fuller explanation about Adrienne Bankert's status. Bankert's traffic career may be over, but she will soon be seen as a regular general assignment reporter and a fill-in anchor.

Inquiring readers want to know...

Where's Adrienne Bankert?

The Channel 3 traffic diva hasn't been on the morning traffic beat for the past two days, sending several readers (hmm...curiously, all male) into an e-mail tizzy.

Here's the deal, according to Channel 3 news director Anzio Williams:

The station has expanded its traffic team, adding Kristin Marshall (the reporter viewers saw Monday and today in the morning). "Adrienne is training her right now," Williams says.

I asked Williams if, as long rumored, the station is grooming Bankert for an anchor or reporter spot. He says it's not in KCRA's immediate plans.

Background on Marshall: She has worked as a traffic reporter at stations in Philadelphia and Baltimore. While in Philly, she finished second in wanderlist.com's "Sexiest Female in Philadelphia TV" competition.

Tsk, tsk. We in Sacramento are much too cultivated to objectify our female TV news personalities. Right?

Former Sacramento radio host Phil Cowan, who seemingly had been in the business since Marconi, has kept a low profile since the cancellation of his KSTE show two months ago.

This gave Cowan fans hope that the former morning funny man (with Paul Robins)-turned-conservative commentator would land another radio gig. Well, no dice.

Cowan tells us he's giving up on radio. He's accepted a job with Ross Marketing ("One of those full-sevice advertising agencies," Phil says) in Fair Oaks Village.

Says Phil: "I'm excited. It's my first stab at self-employment."

So, I finally received last week's The New Yorker in the mail (thanks for nothin', U.S. Postal Service), and I was struck by the cover drawn by graphic novelist and Sacramento native Adrian Tomine.

Called "Shelf Life," the clever nine-panel cartoon is enough to depress any striving author - or anyone who cares about the decline of reading for enjoyment and has seen the latest dreary reports on literacy.

It's kind of like Kubler-Ross' "stages of death." In panel one, you see the author plugging away at the keyboard, then the somewhat humiliating pitching to the publisher, followed by publication, the act of reading by a book lover, then the inevitable discarding, followed by the burning of the book for warmth by a homeless man.

The longer I gazed at the cover, though, the more heartened I got. In a way, books provide warmth and comfort to people on various levels. So is it better for a book to be remaindered and pulped, or put to use to comfort the homeless?

Tomine's cartoon does what the best graphic stories do - makes us think.

OK, so we know the standard modus operandi of local TV news - you plug the entertainment shows on your network (especially during a sweeps month, which February is) with "news" stories of dubious merit.

For the gang at Fox40, that means doing nightly "stories" on "American Idol," that ratings juggernaut that the station hopes will keep viewers tuned in to the 10 o'clock news.

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Fox40's newshounds did a preview story, a recap of the male singers and a recap of the female singers, respectively. Idol chatter, indeed.

But how were they going to promote "Idol" on Thursday?

In a brilliant stroke of cross-promotion, reporter Rowena Shaddox spent the first 30 seconds of her 2 minute, 9 second report showing clips from "Idol," along with Ryan Seacrest intoning "Even Idols aren't immune to the flu," and Paula Abdul weighing in with sage medical diagnoses such as, "Some of these girls are really sick."

Check out the report by clicking on the "Flu Vaccine" video on the main page.

Chris ("Give Beer to the Homeless") Burrous, Channel 13's wildly unpredictable morning news anchor, will expand his media reach in town to radio - for one night, at least.

Burrous will be filling in for news-talk KFBK (1530 AM) evening host (7 to 10 p.m.) Bruce Maiman on Tuesday.

Radio is not exactly foreign territory to Burrous, since his TV morning show often takes viewer phone calls.

And, for good or ill (mostly ill, lately), Burrous is never at a loss for words.

It may be interesting to tune in for a night, if for nothing else than to hear what outrageous things he'll say.

Might Sacramento soon be without a "progressive" talk radio station?

That's what syndicated radio host Peter B. Collins (pictured) has said on the air and on his Web site. Collins, whose show airs on KSAC (1240 AM) from 3 to 6 p.m., wrote, in part, that "the station just notified me and other program producers that it will change format in May if business does not improve."

Today, Paula Nelson, owner and general manager of KSAC, acknowledges that she's "had some offers from other formats."

But, she quickly adds, "I'd like to support Democratic and progressive radio in Sacramento. But, hey, if the progressive people can't come through for us and give us more advertising through our door, we're going to have to make a change."

A quick check of KSAC's Web site speaks to the uncertainty of the station. A graphic reads: "This site under construction."

"We're just trying to be honest and light a fire under our listeners," Nelson says.

In the most recent Arbitron ratings period, KSAC finished 21st out of 32 stations, with a 1.4 rating. That is, however, a significant improvement over its 0.4 rating from last year's numbers.

Late last year, KSAC dropped its only local talk show host, Christine Craft, a move widely seen as done for cost-cutting reasons.

Cranky newspaper reporters are forever kvetching about how vapid local TV types steal their stories and present them as their own enterprise work.

My TV news friends (yes, I do have one or two) explain it away three ways:

1. Don't think of it as stealing. It's recycling the story. Everybody wants to be green, you know.

2. It's not news until it's on TV.

3. Imitation is the sincerest form of cliche - or something like that.

I bring this up because there is a scathing column in the Amador Ledger, by Raheem Hosseini, upbraiding Channel 13 and Channel 3 for stealing stories. Headline: "The fine, dumb cannibals."

Ouch!

Here are two excerpts from the column:

"Last November, there was an alleged road rage incident in the Martell Business Park. Nobody was hurt, though the disagreement led to a man being processed on a number of minor charges - most of which have been dropped. The Ledger buried the story on A3, yet the next day CBS 13's slick-haired bloodhounds came sniffing at the ankles of our newspaper, begging for all the information we had on the case. We said no.

"That night, our dismay at their laziness was replaced by disgust at their bottom-feeding knack for sensationalism when they made the incident their lead story of the night - portraying it as a life-and-death scenario in which a 72-year-old man had attempted to sacrifice innocent shoppers on the altar of his car grill...."

And then there's this...

"A day after the Ledger's "A tale of two cities" came out, we were strolling down Main Street in Jackson when we glimpsed KCRA's frumpy Rich Ibarra looking confused as he lazily dangled a microphone from one arm. His rotund cameraman balanced a lens with one hand and sported a plumber's crack with the other. They had the appearance of lost souls.

"We questioned what they were doing in Jackson. Perhaps Ibarra felt put on the spot by meeting the very journalists whom he'd come to rip off - or maybe he was just too good to talk to newspapermen who didn't smear their faces with layers of foundation. Either way, his cameraman mumbled, 'We heard about problems with this Main Street being a depressed area.' Before we could answer, he blurted, 'This street doesn't look so bad; there are people all over the place.'

"We suggested that Jackson's economic issues were relevant to our community's newspaper, but hardly the stuff of regional headlines. The cameraman gave a jolly smile and admitted that he and Ibarra were really just looking for an excuse to take a nice drive through the foothills. Ibarra's sorry excuse for media flim-flamery aired on KCRA that night."

People, people. Can't we all just get along?

This posting is both a shameless plug and a mea culpa.

First, the plug: Check out my analysis this morning of the five morning news programs (during the 6 a.m. hour) and feel free to comment about whether I was (a) off base, or (b) way off base.

Next, I made a mistake. (Hence, the dunce cap I'm wearing in the picture.)

I listed Cody Stark as the CBS13.com weatherman in the morning. It's Jeff James.

No excuses on my part, other than I was just so mezmerized by anchor Chris Burrous that I must have hallucinated and put Stark onto the set.

My apologies.

Sacramento author William T. Vollmann, a National Book Award winner, has been getting mixed reviews for his new nonfiction offering, "Riding Toward Everywhere."

That New York Times Book Review piece by Pulitizer Prize-winner J.R. Moehringer was brutally negative.

National Public Radio was much more kind. In fact, Vollmann appered on its excellent alt-morning show, "The Bryant Park Project," which put together an audio slideshow for its blog.

Check it out. It'll make you want to "catch out."

Several loyal readers have called, asking what the #$%@&* is up (and that's a direct quote) with News10's high definition signal, which has been on the fritz all week.

Let's not bury the good news: Station honchos say the HD should be back in operation by tonight, at the latest.

No doubt they're among the most relieved by the news. Fans of "Lost" can be fanatic, you know, and not seeing Kate and Sawyer (pictured) in HD is a big loss.

Still, Russell Postell, News10's general manager, has got some 'splaining to do...

"What happened was that we had a transmission line that burned out," Postell says. "It took us a couple of days to repair it. The only reason we haven't been on since fixing it Tuesday is that it's been too windy to go up to our transmission tower to get it back on."

Postell is quick to add that News10 will replay this week's episode of "Lost" next Thursday at 8 p.m., leading into a new episode at 9.

In other HD news: News10's HD-3 channel plans to air the Tour of California bike race on Tuesday as it wends its way through Winters, Davis, Woodland and Sacramento. News10 is also projecting its feed to a giant HD screen in Davis' downtown park on 3rd and F streets.

Usually, liberal MSNBC host Keith Olbermann reserves the No. 1 spot of his nightly "Worst Person in the World" for his favorite punching bag Bill O'Reilly.

But Thursday night, the dishonor went to Tom Sullivan for his comparison of the speaking styles of Adolph Hitler and Barack Obama. (Check out our earlier post on the KFBK alum.)

Whoa. Talk about "The Audacity of Right-Wing Radio Talking Heads"....

Listen (courtesy of the watchdog group Media Matters for America) to a segment of Tom Sullivan's radio show on KFBK (1530 AM) on Monday, in which he compares the oratorical style of Hitler and Barack Obama.

Here's the summary from Media Matters:

Fox News Radio host Tom Sullivan took a call from a listener who stated that when listening to Barack Obama speak, "it harkens back to when I was younger and I used to watch those deals with Hitler, how he would excite the crowd and they'd come to their feet and scream and yell." Sullivan then played a "side-by-side comparison" of a Hitler speech and an Obama speech. Sullivan mimicked the crowd during both speeches, yelling, "Yay! Yay!" When a later caller complained that Sullivan was "denigrating" Obama with the comparison, Sullivan said he wouldn't play it again, then begged: "Can I, please, one more time? Just one more time? Then I won't do it again. ... Until the next time."

Yes, it's been a while since Mark Williams - the ex-KFBK conservative talker now plying his trade in Albany, N.Y. (brrr!) - had a really good street fight.

And the Sacramento Capitol steps have been a quieter place because of it.

But connoisseurs of Williams' unique brand of Commedia dell'Arte-meets-Political Theater can catch his act in Albany, where he spoke against a county resolution to bring the troops home from Iraq. The highlight: He pulled a Sinead O'Connor and ripped up the resolution before legislators' eyes.

Here's the video.

My item earlier today about Channel 13's penchant for having reporters point guns at the camera prompted one reader to charge me with overstatement and claim that our CBS affiliate and its sister station Channel 31 aren't trigger happy.

Au contraire...

Just a quick click through 21Q's archives points out these earlier, uh, shots that prove the stations have something of a gun fetish.

To wit:

Anny get your gun: Reporter Anny Hong on pellet guns...

Chris Burrous with high-powered rifle...

The late, lamented Taryn Winter Brill, locked and loaded...

Lisa Gonzales stalking her prey...

... the now-departed news director Steve Charlier, gun at ease for once.

Eric Hogue, the former talk radio host at KTKZ (1380 AM) who last year moved to sister station KFIA (710 AM) to host a religious show, soon will be coming back to KTKZ.

Starting Match 3, Hogue will host a political show, "Capital Hour" between noon and 1 p.m. He says it will focus solely on local issues, such as the budget crisis and downtown development.

Hogue says his return to the dwindling ranks of political talk radio is badly needed.

"I mean, there's been nobody in town talking about these things," he says. "Tom Sullivan does his (KFBK) show out of New York now and Phil Cowan (at KSTE) is gone. These guys were my friends. I want to try to cover the same issues they talked about."

In recent months, Hogue has entertained the idea of running for the state Assembly (District 4), but dropped out after Assemblyman Ted Gaines decided not to run for John Doolittle's congressional seat.

As sure as the sun rises in the east, as inevitable as death and taxes, and as annoying as cliched expressions used by hack writers, you know it's sweeps month when Channel 13 points a gun at the screen.

This time, it's new reporter Elyce Kirchner, who gets all tabloid-y and mimes shooting the viewer.

Niiiiice.

Ah, the Steve Charlier legacy lives on ...

Health and fitness reporting seems to be the trend in media these days, and Capital Public Radio (KXJZ, 90.9 FM) has responded by hiring a fulltime reporter for the beat.

She is Kelley Weiss, who formerly worked at KCUR, an NPR affiliate in Kansas City, and wrote for the Kansas City Star.

Check out Weiss' work here.

The radio exodus continues today as KHTK (1140 AM) laid off four workers - including longtime program director Mike Remy - as well as three in off-air administratio