Today’s prize is:

• One-night stay at the Sheraton West Des Moines Hotel
• Dinner for 4 at the Kirkwood Lounge
• 4 tickets to the Principal Charity Classic
• 2 full service canoe floats provided by Seven Oaks Recreation
• Couple’s massage at Massage Heights
• Value: $481

First, click “Like”.  Then, click the “See Des Moines Sweepstakes” tab under the big picture.  Get started HERE. Good Luck!

NOAA Weather Radio programmable to trigger for specific counties

Weather radios available at all Fareway locations in Iowa

WHO-HD Channel 13 announced today that it is again partnering with central Iowa Fareway Stores to sell life-saving NOAA Weather Radios just in time for Iowa’s most dangerous season.  The state-of-the-art Oregon Scientific NOAA weather radios, programmable to the county level, regularly retail for $59.95 but are on sale now at the Fareway Stores for just $29.99 while supplies last.

“This is a small price to pay for a lot of protection,” says Channel 13 Chief Meteorologist Ed Wilson.  “We can keep you safe once you’re watching TV.  But what we can’t do is wake you up when a warning is issued.  This weather radio will.  Plus, it’s completely portable and small enough to slip right into a purse or boat bag.”

Jeff Stearns, Vice President of Marketing and Promotions for Fareway says, “Fareway is excited to partner with WHO-HD Channel 13 to bring our shoppers an affordable and convenient way to purchase weather radios in our stores to help keep their families safe during severe weather.”

In central Iowa, the state-of-the-art weather radios are available at the 41 Fareway stores located in Algona, Altoona, Ames, Ankeny, Atlantic, Belmond, Boone, Carroll, Centerville, all Des Moines metro stores, Eagle Grove, Eldora, Ft. Dodge, Greenfield, Grimes, Grinnell, Hampton, Humbolt, Indianola, Iowa Falls, Jefferson, Knoxville, Marshalltown, Nevada, Newton, Norwalk, Osceola, Oskaloosa, Pella, Perry, Webster City and Winterset.

These Oregon Scientific weather radios have the National Weather Service’s (NWS) SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) technology to alert you only of weather and other emergencies for the county(s) the user has programmed into them.  Weather radios without this technology would receive an alert for emergencies anywhere within the coverage area of the National Weather Service transmitter, typically several counties, even though the emergency could be well away from the listener.

How SAME Technology Works

• When an NWS office broadcasts a warning, watch or non-weather emergency, it also broadcasts a digital SAME code that may be heard as a very brief static burst, depending on the characteristics of the receiver. This SAME code contains the type of message, county(s) affected, and message expiration time.
• A programmed weather radio SAME receiver will turn on for that message, with the listener hearing the 1050 Hz warning alarm tone as an attention signal, followed by the broadcast message.
• At the end of the broadcast message, listeners will hear a brief digital end-of-message static burst followed by a resumption of the normal broadcast cycle.

About the All Hazards Portable Weather Alert Radio

The Oregon Scientific portable Public Alert Radio provides emergency alerts anywhere in the U.S.  When traveling, boating, hiking or working outdoors, use the WR601 to receive weather information and emergency broadcasts from the National Weather Service. With the non-volatile memory built-in, no need to reprogram your SAME codes when the batteries run out!

Other features include:

• Monitors U.S. Emergency All Hazards, and Emergency Alert System (EAS) weather bulletins, warnings, & forecasts
• Receives all National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association (NOAA) reports, which provides all available emergency advisories on tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, floods, evacuations, civil danger warnings & more
• Flexible programming—select Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) broadcasts in up to 6 different counties
• 100 decibel audio alarm with visual alert signal
• 3 levels of NOAA messages: Statement, Watch, Warning
• Non Volatile Memory Back-up
• Dual alarm with snooze function
• Includes convenient stand (to hold unit) and AC Adapter
• Dimensions: 2.75L x 1.25D x 5.25H (in.)

Select games available free over-the-air on WHO 13.3 Antenna TV

WHO-HD announced today that select Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox baseball games will again be broadcast free over-the-air for the 2012 season.  Under an agreement with the WGN Sports Baseball Network, the games will be broadcast on WHO 13.3 Antenna TV.  This channel is also available to Mediacom subscribers on channel 13.3 or digital channel 114 for those with a Mediacom Digital tuner.

“We’re excited about his new opportunity,” says WHO-HD President and General Manager Dale R. Woods.  “Lots of reasons led to this decision including our proximity to Chicago, interest in these teams, our Iowa Cubs, and the opportunity to bring fresh, live, professional and free over-the-air programming to our viewers.”

Channel 13 News receives the most 2012 NBNA Awards in Iowa
Winning categories include Investigation, Reporting and Hard Feature

The Northwest Broadcast News Association (NBNA) has presented Channel 13 News with 20 Eric Sevareid Awards, the most of any television station in Iowa.  The achievement includes awards for “Investigation”, “General Reporting”, “Series” and “Hard Feature.”  The station received the awards March 31^st during the Midwest Journalism Conference in Minneapolis.

The station’s other awards include accolades for “Best Newscast”, “Best Sportscast,” “Spot News”, “Broadcast Writing”, “Photojournalism”, “Sports Reporting”, and for Sound Off with Keith Murphy.  (A complete list of all the awards including a link to the story is below.)

“I could not be more proud of the team at Channel 13 News,” says WHO-HD News Director Rod Peterson.  “In an industry that is continually evolving and more competitive, it still comes down to telling compelling stories and that’s what these accolades represent.”