More Local Weatherman News
'Member a few days ago when I told ya that a local weatherman went Pulp Fiction on Groundhog Day? Well, it turns out that the story doesn't end there.
The television station has three main weather guys. Pep has always called them Rummy, Squeaky and Tweak. Rummy is the one who nearly offed himself on Groundhog Day. Squeaky is a fresh-faced cherub who always looks like his grandma just scrubbed him up and dressed him for Sunday school.
Today's new is that Squeaky has been called as a witness in Rummy's dealer's trial. Squeaky is reportedly working with his lawyers, planning "how to react once the news of his testimony became public." Whew! Sounds big!
In the meantime, Squeaky isn't allowed to do his weather broadcast. His boss doesn't want him to be "distracted" the boss said, while we can't wait to be distracted by news of the Super Imploding Weather team.
posted by keithurbanchic @ 7:22 PM
2 Comments:
Who knew weather forecasting in your neck of the woods would be so dangerous ...
The second weatherman doing smack says he got clean in December. Here are two stories:
Jamey Singleton admits past drug use
WSLS NewsChannel 10
Friday, February 17, 2006
The following is a transcript of Storm Team 10 Meterorologist Jamey Singleton's interview with Newschannel 10 investigative reporter Denise Eck. VIDEO (Windows Media)
Singleton: Viewers notice this about my personality, I feel like I'm in their home and I, we're all family. So you should be able to come to your family with anything.
I just want to lay out there that I've had a past, made some bad decisions, with addictive type substances, and for that I am really sorry. I'm ashamed.
It took a lot of courage for me to come to terms with that and I've come out to my family with it. We've been through it, my close friends, and now I want to let the viewers know that I'm human too and that people make mistakes.
When colleagues become the news, ethical questions arise. Angela Hatcher speaks with an ethics expert. VIDEO (Windows Media)
Jamey Singleton statement
Reaction to Singleton's admission of heroin use VIDEO
Jamey Singleton to testify in heroin case VIDEO
Reaction to Singleton testimony: Melissa Martin talks with News Director Shane Moreland. VIDEO
I have been in treatment, completed treatment for this. And in essence I feel I've turned my life around now.
Eck: YOU SAID ADDICTIVE SUBSTANCES. ARE YOU TALKING HEROIN?
Singleton: Yeah. Mm, hmm.
Eck: PEOPLE ON THE OUTSIDE LOOK AT YOU, LOOK AT MARC LAMARRE, AND SAY, THESE ARE TWO BRIGHT, FUN, GOOD LOOKING GUYS, HAVE A GREAT JOB. EVERYBODY LOVES THEM. WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD THE TWO OF YOU JEOPARDIZE ALL OF THAT WITH DRUGS?
Singleton: You can't explain it. It's one of the things you learn in recovery. It doesn't make sense. I've tried to ask myself the very same question. That, I may never know that answer. That's part of my recovery ,is trying to figure that out.
Eck: DO YOU EVER SAY TO YOURSELF LATE AT NIGHT, MAN, I WANT TO GET HIGH?
Singleton: No, that would, be, I tell people I still have a brain believe it or not. It doesn't cross my mind and especially now, after seeing what's happened to Marc. And everything that's at stake. I just have put it in my past and am moving on. And it's not an option. It's not an option. At all.
Eck: THOUGH JAMEY IS MOVING ON, HE STILL THINKS OF FEBRUARY 2, THE NIGHT MARC LAMARRE OVERDOSED.
Eck: WHAT DID YOU THINK WHEN YOU HEARD?
Singleton: I thought, oh my God, I've lost the closest person I have. Marc wasn't just a coworker, we worked out together, we hung out together, we have so many memories and I was afraid we were going to lose him. And I'm glad that he's back. The hardest thing to do was to still do the weather that night knowing what had happened.
Singleton: I'm sure that this is a shock to viewers, no doubt in my mind and I don't know what they're thinking. All I can say is, I grew up watching weather guys and you do picture people like that and I think: If there's any good that's come out of this it's that people realize that everybody, whether they're on TV or not, can fall into this. It's hard, it's a disease, it's been rough, but we're all human and my goal is just to get through it and I hope that my viewers, I consider them my family, my friends, and I talk to them every night. I just hope they hear what I have to say with an open mind.
Eck: THERE HAVE BEEN TIMES WHEN, MEDIA GENERAL, WHICH IS A BIG COMPANY, AND EMPLOYS A LOT OF METEOROLOGISTS, CHOSE YOU OUT OF ANYBODY ELSE THEY COULD CHOOSE, TO GO AND COVER BIG HURRICANES, ISABEL, KATRINA. DO YOU WORRY THAT YOUR LAPSES IN JUDGMENT WILL MAKE YOU NOT THE GO-TO GUY IN THE EYES OF YOUR EMPLOYER?
Singleton: Right now, no. And this is based on the way everything's been handled so far. I really can't express in words how thankful I am to WSLS and Media General for giving me the opportunity to help myself.
I'm amazed by that still to this day and I will forever owe them thanks. They've been very supportive and that's helped me tremendously.
Singleton: I consider this to be a past thing of mine. I've moved on with it, I've turned my life around.
And I hope that Marc's as happy as I am right now. You know, because that's kept me going through this, it's led to my recovery.
Eck: ARE YOU RECOVERED?
Singleton: You're never recovered, I don't think. You're not supposed to ever be, but I've put the beast to sleep, so to speak.
Eck: YOU'RE CONFIDENT?
Singleton: Yeah, very.
THE ROANOKE TIMES:
Another WSLS weatherman admits struggle with heroin
By Lindsey Nair and Marques G. Harper
Not one, but two WSLS (Channel 10) meteorologists -- Marc Lamarre and Jamey Singleton -- have struggled with a heroin addiction in recent months, according to an interview with Singleton that aired on WSLS's late-night newscast Friday.
"Anyone can fall into this," Singleton said. "It's hard, it's a disease and it's been rough."
Singleton said he has undergone therapy for his dependency and feels as if he has conquered it for the most part.
"You never recover, I don't think," he said, "but I've put the beast to sleep, so to speak."
Singleton said the toughest part of his ordeal was finding out that his friend and neighbor, Lamarre, 36, suffered a near-fatal heroin overdose on the evening of Feb. 2. Lamarre is recovering, according to WSLS, but he is no longer employed with the station.
Last week, though, Lamarre spoke to the station by phone and offered a thank-you message for viewers who have supported him.
Lamarre's overdose became public after news broke last week that Gilbert Dennis Hadden, 21, of Detroit, is being held on federal charges of conspiracy to distribute heroin and distribution of heroin. Hadden's attorney, Greg Phillips, confirmed that his client is "a dealer who is involved in a conspiracy where Marc Lamarre was supplied heroin," adding that he believes others were also involved.
According to WSLS, Singleton will testify in the federal case against Hadden and had been working with his attorney to determine how to react once news of his involvement was made public. But WSLS reported Friday that it cannot comment on the investigation itself.
Singleton did not give the weather forecast Friday because he was the subject of a news story on the same broadcast. WSLS news director Shane Moreland said on the air Friday that he wants to put Singleton, who joined the station in 1998, on the air again. But the popular meteorologist may be missing from the show on other occasions as the investigation plays out "so he's not distracted by it and so we're not distracted by it," Moreland said.
"We're taking it day by day," Moreland said in a telephone interview. "He's working with his attorneys and the federal folks."
In the near future, Moreland said viewers might see a temporary face or two delivering the weather along with meteorologist Jeff Haniewich. A possible substitute was still being figured out as of Friday, Moreland said.
WSLS's story stressed that neither Lamarre nor Singleton has been charged with any crime in connection with the case. Heidi Coy, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Roanoke, said Friday that she could neither confirm nor deny Singleton's involvement in the investigation.
According to a federal affidavit filed in Roanoke on Feb. 5, Roanoke Fire-EMS and Roanoke police responded Feb. 2 to an apartment in Southwest Roanoke in response to a reported overdose. There, they found a man with no pulse, but they were able to revive him before taking him to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
The affidavit states that three confidential sources have cooperated with the Drug Enforcement Administration's investigation of the case.
One source said he or she knew Lamarre had a past addiction to heroin, knew he had purchased heroin from a man and provided a location in Southwest Roanoke where the deals frequently occurred. That same source said he or she and Lamarre had obtained heroin together at that address and that Lamarre had told him or her on Feb. 2 that he wanted to get some heroin.
A second confidential source provided authorities with a detailed description of the dealer and gave them the dealer's cellphone number. The second source agreed to contact the distributor and arrange a meeting, which is where Hadden was arrested.
A third source told authorities that he or she had simply driven Hadden to the site of his arrest and had no knowledge of the drug deal.
In his interview with his employer Friday, Singleton said he was sure that news of his addiction would come as a shock to viewers, but he wanted to "now let the viewers know that I'm human, too, and people make mistakes."
Singleton added that the thought of picking up the habit again does not cross his mind.
"In essence, I feel like I've turned my life around," he said.
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