Today was Alana Gomez Dong’s last day at KPRC…she’s heading to Boston. We wish her the best!

I finally made it out to a going away party. Usually, I am sleeping when they are going on. Cafe Adobe, good times.

Amanda, Jen, Tanya, Alana, Mia, Erica, Amy (L to R)

Amanda used to work the morning shift; I still see her in the newsroom at times typing away. Tanya works the 10, so it’s great when we have functions like this b/c we get to mingle with co-workers from different day shifts. Mia, great producer for our morning show! Erica gets the 6 going everyday and I found out that she enjoys putting on functions like this. Fits her personality. Amy…well, you all are used to seeing her get down to business with the investigative team. Here, she’s all smiles.

Jen, Phil, Alana, Erica (L to R)

For the record, Phil Archer does not have a double chin. Let’s blame it on lighting…ok the photographer…how about his sheer joy?

Rebecca, Carl, Alana, Jen (L to R)

Alright, who took this picture again? They said, “yeah Jen you REALLY need to squeeze in….tighter….” HUH? I had plenty of room. Just making me cramp Alana. :-/

Jen, Brian, Alana, James (L to R)

Brian Wice, our legal analyst – back on board with KPRC. James, one of the nicest photographers in the business.

Mary was snapping away with photos. Check out her Facebook Page and her blog.

A new law was passed this September which requires that ALL passengers in a vehicle wear seat belts, no matter how old they are or where they’re sitting in the car.

I have the BEST job and am so thankful for it!!

By popular demand…

I’ve created this list for those of you who are new to Houston. Welcome! Yes, it’s true and often confusing…every one of our freeways has “another name.” We have about 16 major highways which you can read more about by heading to wikipedia’s website.

Highway 6                          turns into FM 1960

To read more about Willard Wigan…head to his website: http://www.willard-wigan.com/about-willard-wigan.aspx

Jennifer Reyna interviewing micro sculptor, Willard Wigan.

Right before Santa Claus parachuted from a plane…Frank and I were hanging out reading over scripts and saying hello to everyone. By the way, if you took a picture with Frank or me, you will be able to find those pictures on click2houston.com by the end of this week. I’ll post the link here.

UPDATE: THERE ARE OVER 60 PICTURES IN THE SLIDESHOW ON CLICK2HOUSTON.COM, SEE LINK BELOW:

http://www.click2houston.com/slideshow/news/21631139/detail.html

Frank Billingsley and Jennifer Reyna

Jen and Louis Lochte(field producer) working in the live truck.

This Saturday will mark my first visit to The Festival Of Lights. It sounds awesome! I’ll be in the middle of Moody Gardens as Santa Claus makes an early visit to flip the switch…ta-da…ONE MILLION LIGHTS! May the holiday season begin.

There’s ice skating, ballet/performances and holiday films. It sounds like there’s a little something for everyone. To find out about pricing, directions and other info head to :
http://www.moodygardens.com/seasonal_fun/festival_of_lights/

FROM FRIDAY’S NEWSCAST:

JUST FOR FUN: To shed more light on your Channel 2, Traffic Anchor’s background try taking a shot at this quiz question. The answer will be posted here on Monday.

ANSWER: B – Dad would take me ice skating on a regular basis.

I met some wonderful people while on this story. Tyrina Gleinser, my photographer and I took a trip up to Conroe to see what all of the hype was about…HUNDREDS of fathers were pumped up and ready to make a positive impact on the lives of children around them. Take a look at the story. Then spread the word to as many dads as possible. Here’s a link to the WatchD.O.G.S website in case you want more information on how to get involved.

http://www.fathers.com

Or Email :
Pete Ringo : pete@ebetterbusinesscard.com
Adam Berg : Adam.Berg@sylvania.com

Q:

A:
“The portion of the road your viewer asked about was completed a number of years ago by the state. The state built it as a frontage road with two lanes in each direction. The Harris County Toll Road Authority is completing the section as a toll road. When it is complete it will link to the rest of Sam Houston Tollway system.

The segment is about 13 miles long and it will cost about $400 million to build. Work started in July and progress has been rapid. The project is currently on schedule and is supposed to be open in the Spring of 2011. The toll road will be EZ-Tag users only just like the Westpark Toll Road.

The frontage roads along the corridor will remain free.” – TxDOT

Do you normally take I-10 the Katy Freeway into town? Then you’ve probably noticed the construction and delays approaching downtown. So after the weekend, you probably thought to take another route into work to avoid sitting in a parking lot.

Your Options: Memorial Drive, Washington Ave, Allen Parkway, 59 Southwest Frwy, North Loop

Today, I heard that people who chose Memorial Drive were not too happy because there was a lot of traffic there. I found out that the signal lights were flashing around Memorial Drive and 610 – those have been fixed. Also, “Signals” has been keeping an eye on the traffic patterns and have made timing adjustments. They said today (when I spoke with them on the phone) that you should see a difference tomorrow with a better flow of traffic.

Personally, I am a freeway person so i would choose 59 Southwest Frwy if there were no accidents or problems before I left the house. If that puts you too far away from your destination, I would choose Allen Parkway as my next alternate because there are hardly any lights to sit through and the speed limit keeps traffic moving. Next it would be a toss up b/w Memorial Drive and Washington Ave.-both are popular, right next to Katy Freeway and have lights. For those reasons…they will both run slowly. The North Loop would be my last option-construction there makes for a long commute.

Now, you can always just stay on the Katy Freeway. Today it didn’t look as bad, but it just depends.

I hope this helps. Drive friendly!

**** By the way: Here’s a map that might help****

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=100081557010585993822.00044b1415aeab79e836b&ll=29.772246,-95.406121&spn=0.083549,0.108168&source=embed