That item about Jackie, Jermaine and Tito Jackson having lunch at Neverland Ranch with Montecito's Tom Barrack on Saturday was actually a News-Press/Scott Steepleton scoop.
But with the News-Press not feeding the story to the Associated Press, of which it is a contributing member, and keeping the article locked behind the pay wall on its website it never got the credit for breaking the story.
Had it released the story to the AP, that would have been Steepleton's by-line going out around the world rather than that of an AP writer.
One scoop the News-Press didn't get was about the SBCC Football program getting into hot water with the California Community College Athletic Association. The organization has sanctioned SBCC and the school has been forced to forfeit their conference co-championship as well as a number of games.
Presidio Sports was the first to break the story on Monday afternoon.
Carpinteria filmmaker Larry Nimmer, who put together a videotape of the interior of Michael Jackson's home for the defense team in Jackson's child molestation trial, was a guest on Geraldo Rivera's Fox News Channel show over the weekend. Nimmer has a documentary out on "The Untold Story of Neverland."
Nimmer is well known locally for his "Cruising With The Candidates" videos that appear during election season on Santa Barbara Channels.
Here's a news item you probably never expected to see. "City Council Race Gets Smaller."
Michael Jordan, who had been contemplating entering the race for Santa Barbara City Council, has decided against it.
In an e-mail sent out to supporters and friends on Sunday night, Jordan said he had, "underestimated the amount of time required during the workday over the next four months" in order to campaign.
He hasn't ruled out running for office in the future.
And finally, congratulations to everyone at KEYT. On Saturday night, the station won an Associated Press-TV - Radio Award for best 60-minute newscast for their coverage of the Tea Fire.
© 2009 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com
