Man killed when struck by Amtrak train near downtown Kalamaz

[signmasters]

KALAMAZOO --A man was hit and killed by an Amtrak train near downtown Kalamazoo late this afternoon.
The man, whose identity was not immediately known by police, was struck at the Lovell Street crossing at about 4:15 p.m. by a westbound train that had just left the downtown station, according to the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety.

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/ind ... _amtr.html

[J T]

WOOD TV in GR is really pushing this story...really dramatizing it in the promos for the 11 pm news.

[signmasters]

Our news makes me sick sometimes how they beat a story to death. I heard them sending supervisor to the scene on my scanner today and they held 364 at Glennwood until 353 got moving again. The Niles depot was kept open for them, they re-crewed in Michigan city.

[J T]

This guy who got killed...must be someone special. I haven't seen a story for a train/pedestrian death promo'd like this before. Either that or it's a REALLY slow day.

[GTW6401]

Sweeps are coming up for broadcast news stations. They throw every investigative report and all the other sleaze ball stories out there during this period in an attempt to get ratings.

Its harder to watch the news in the Flint/Saginaw market because its all revolving around GM, murders and fires anymore. Well actually its always been like that, who I am kidding.

[hoborich]

It always blows my mind, how anyone can get hit by a train.

As for the news media, I think a letter writing campaign to their sponsers, suggesting a boycott of their products, might get their attention.

[TCP]

Every time this happens the media makes such a big deal about it.
How about doing a story on the train crew in the cab who can do nothing but blow the horn, apply the brakes, and close their eyes knowing that the outcome will not be good. But no lets hype up the whole idea that someone without warning got hit by a train.
Now not to make light of this but if the story was that the train jumped off the tracks, ran down the street and hit someone that would be a story to report.

Local media is turning into a tabloid on TV.

[J T]

So, I tuned in to see what Suzanne Geha had to say at 11pm after pumping up this enormous story all evening long at every commercial break. Guess what...it was like the third or fourth story in, and then when she finally talked about it, the BIG NEWS turned out to be...<gasp>....AN ACCIDENT. Oh, REALLY???? That's all you have to say about it, you nitwit??!

Gee, accidents happen every day. You would have thought that the president of WMU was the one who got hit by the way they built up this story. Unbelievable.

I prefer WOOD TV for news over everyone else, but Suzanne Geha has GOT TO GO. She takes sensationalizing "average" news stories to the a level that I've never seen before. You think she would have learned after making a COMPLETE fool of herself a couple of years ago with the way she built up the multi-million dollar "secret development" plan for downtown GR that fell through (which was predictable).

[GTW6401]

Actually JT, if you want to complain about television news theres more to it than just the anchors.

The News Director oversees all content and staff within the newsroom so any complaints would start with him. A producer selects the order and writes the copy for each story that you see, so it was the producers decision to place the Amtrak story in the slot they did.

The teases don’t necessarily have to be about the first two stories in the newscast either, but will most likely be the most recent stories or that have the best video.

Then you have the anchor that reads the copy provided in the scripts and intros the packages provided by the reporters. I think it’s a about a 50/50 draw between how the producers stacks the show, along with how the anchor presents everything.

Suzanne Geha has been there forever so it might just be you that has a strong disliking for her. My take would be that if she were really far behind in the ratings to WZZM and WMMT she would have likely been put out to pasture a while ago. Everyone has there own personal tastes when it comes to news.

[Racer]

Its harder to watch the news in the Flint/Saginaw market because its all revolving around GM, murders and fires anymore. Well actually its always been like that, who I am kidding.

Try watching the local news here in Detroit!

[hoborich]

The teases don’t necessarily have to be about the first two stories in the newscast either, but will most likely be the most recent stories or that have the best video.

Actually the teasers are usually shown later in the newscast, to keep you watching. They wouldn't want you to turn it off or change the channel right after the tease story, so they hold it for later.

[chico]

I happen to know Suzanne Geha and her husband of over 25years Rick, who was my first boss (program director) when I worked at WIDR on the WMU campus. We are going WAY back now! When the station was closed-circuit AM to the dorms! I think she should be given some slack here.

As sensational as the teasers are for the local news, Suzanne is one of the class acts in the business. Maybe she's looking forward to her retirement as much as the poster who flames her in this forum? She is a true professional journalist who happens to read a teleprompter. They ALL do. She is real, what you see is who she is. That is why she's lasted in the biz as long as she has, because her audience connects with her. Yes, the winds of change are blowing..

..the tv/radio/newspaper media, they are a dying bunch starving for cash flow. Local stations will air whatever someone shows up at the door and asks them to air if they've got the money to pay for it. That means incorporating commercial "news" content into newscasts, or AVOIDING or downplaying reporting negatively on an entity who does advertise. What does end up on the teleprompter screen is put there by powers that be. So much for serving the public interest. It also means their talking heads are forced to read stupidly written teasers and promos.

Lastly, with regard to the RR/Ped accident, there could be other mitigating circumstances:

1. occassional drunks crossing the tracks in that area, it HAS been known to happen there over the years..or,
2. suicide by rail? happens all the time, unfortunately

Just some food for thought,
Chico
http://www.heartlandrails.com

[nssd70m-2]

It's got to be terrible for the engineer and conductor riding in the cab.. "So honey how was work? Oh not so good ,we ran over some dumbastard that doesn't know what the meaning of "Stop on red signal". It seems like people are getting stupider and stupider. Seriously ,how can you get hit by a freaking train?

[amtrakjackson]

The whole area is filled with what I call "non-believers". The right-of-way west of BO is seen as a linear park by many... you should have seen the big midnight bonfire they had going between the two mains last summer. To tell the truth, I'm surprised there aren't more fatalities; even though it is clearly marked.

A common sight in Kalamazoo:

Run... don't slip on that wet, greasy rail...

[azimmer]

BNSF has had video cameras installed in its lead locos for some time now. The sole purpose of those cameras is to record any crossing accidents.

Because of the great number of human-train collisions on the Michigan line, it would be a good idea for Amtrak to use cameras. Eyewitnesses, even if they are present, can be unreliable. A video camera can provide undisputable evidence.

AZ

[J T]

Suzanne Geha has been there forever so it might just be you that has a strong disliking for her. My take would be that if she were really far behind in the ratings to WZZM and WMMT she would have likely been put out to pasture a while ago. Everyone has there own personal tastes when it comes to news.

Yes, she has been there forever, and because of that she's given a LOT more leeway than most anchors. Geha is the stereotypical anchor who likes to sensationalize stories, and is never held accountable...most likely due to her time there. Of course, all the old fuddy duddies in the GR area are the ones who like her and keep her ratings up.

I've met her and dealt with her outside the world of television news and she is a complete idiot.

[J T]

BNSF has had video cameras installed in its lead locos for some time now. The sole purpose of those cameras is to record any crossing accidents.

Because of the great number of human-train collisions on the Michigan line, it would be a good idea for Amtrak to use cameras.
AZ

It appears that they already do....

[Raildudes dad]

Yes, she has been there forever, and because of that she's given a LOT more leeway than most anchors. Geha is the stereotypical anchor who likes to sensationalize stories, and is never held accountable...most likely due to her time there. Of course, all the old fuddy duddies in the GR area are the ones who like her and keep her ratings up.

I've met her and dealt with her outside the world of television news and she is a complete idiot.

My wife & I were behind her at a checkout one time. She's all of the above and just plain obnoxious. There was absolutely no reason for her to treat the clerk the way she did.

[azimmer]

It appears that they already do....

OK. So Amtrak uses video cameras.

Then what happens after a fatal accident? Do the local police take the video data? Or is the video data saved for later use by the TSB (or whatever Fed agency is responsible)? I woudn't think that any means of reviewing the data exist at the scene.

For some interesting (and graphic) accounts of Amtrak accidents in Michigan, have a look at the following site:

http://www.railroaddave.com/

The author reports that at some localities the police are so inexperienced when it comes to handling train accidents that they can't invoke the proper procedures and will often bicker over jurisdiction.

AZ

[amtrakjackson]

They nearly always bicker over jurisdictions. One time I put a passenger off after Ann Arbor; smack-dab at old Dixboro Road, at the dead-end. They wanted to know where the offense occurred, and tried to wiggle out of doing anything at all, since it happened at the Ann Arbor station, but the passenger didn't tell me for a few minutes.

In 2006, I had to go relieve 354 on two seperate occasions in Leoni Township. Both times the local authorities were... well, let's say after they held us for 5 hours, passengers started calling 911 to put a little fire under them. The cops said "I wonder if they'd like to sit here another 5 hours," and laughed. (And people wonder why I have issues with the law enforcement folks.)

Sometime you should ask some of the ex-Conrail guys about the Schoolcraft debacle. It was bad. Don't want to go into it here & now.

It appears that they already do....

http://www.railroaddave.com/

The author reports that at some localities the police are so inexperienced when it comes to handling train accidents that they can't invoke the proper procedures and will often bicker over jurisdiction.

AZ