THE SHOW: 01/06/2010 -TIGER'S SEX TAPE / BRIDAL BLISS?? / HEALTH CARE STILL A HOT TOPIC / WINTER WOES

LOCAL NEWS:

"Road Crews Prepare For Old Man Winter"

*NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Metro Public Works and Tennessee Department of Transportation continued applying saltwater brine Wednesday over 300 miles of roadways in preparation for the snowfall. Public works said an estimated 60,000 gallons of saltwater brine was scattered across 400 miles of roadways throughout the Metro Nashville area. Crews expected to cover another 300 miles Wednesday. Saltwater brine was applied in anticipation of a snow storm for drivers safety for when the snow first starts to accumulate. MPW has a massive inventory of salt ready to go - about 7,500 tons to be exact. Metro crews and a fleet of 30 trucks will be on standby in the event of hazardous road conditions. Once the snow begins to fall, the department will clear an estimated 700 mile area with a focus near hospitals, business and other vital service areas.

"One Person Dies In Columbia House Fire"

*COLUMBIA, Tenn. - One person died Wednesday after a house caught fire in Maury County. The fire broke out around midnight on Hannaway Street in Columbia. Neighbors said an elderly woman in her 90s and her adult son in his mid-60s were inside the home. According to the neighbors, the son saved his mother's life. The mother said she thinks the fire started when her wood stove blew as her son was putting something in it, and the explosion caught her son on fire. While still on fire, the son made sure that his mom got out of the house. The son then ran out of the house and died on the neighbor's driveway. The home is considered a total loss, so Red Cross provided assistance to the mother. Part of the street was blocked because water caused ice to form. Salt crew were called to the scene.

*NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A serious crash on Interstate 24 East near the Shelby Avenue exit sent one person to the hospital Tuesday night. The crash happened just before 10:30 p.m. At least one person was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The Tennessee Department of Transportation shut down the interstate for awhile as they cleared the crash site.

"Egypt, Hamas exchange fire on Gaza frontier, 1 dead "

*The violence was the most serious between Egyptian and Hamas forces since Cairo began constructing the underground steel barrier a month ago. The project could choke off the movement of weapons and goods through tunnels into the Gaza Strip. Israel and Egypt maintain a blockade of the territory, which is ruled by Hamas Islamists who oppose international efforts to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace. Weapons and a wide range of commercial products are smuggled into the territory through a network of tunnels crossing the border with Egypt. Cairo has come under U.S. and Israeli pressure to stop the trafficking. On the Egyptian side of the frontier, security officials said a 21-year-old soldier was killed by gunfire from the Palestinian part of the divided town of Rafah. Witnesses on the Gaza side of the border said members of Hamas's police force fired at the Egyptians. Hundreds of Palestinians had turned out to protest against the wall. Witnesses said dozens of demonstrators threw rocks at Egyptian soldiers, who then opened fire, wounding four Palestinians.

*The White House didn't say much about last night's health care talks between President Obama and congressional Democrats, but officials made it clear they're cool with fast-tracking the final phase of legislation, with no public hearings and no Republican involvement. "The president is anxious to get the differences worked out and get a bill to both houses and passed out of them," said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. And the president will be deeply involved. The White House just announced he will meet again this afternoon with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other top House Democrats. Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada -- who led a delegation to the White House early last evening -- have not appointed a House-Senate conference committee to work out differences in their divergent health care bills. Instead, Democrats in both chambers are negotiating among themselves in hopes of forging a common bill than can be approved as amendments to the existing legislation. Republicans are making an issue of this strategy."I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that a bill that's been written outside of the view of the American people will continue to be handled by Democrats in the same way again," said Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Other critics have pointed to Obama's campaign pledge about "bringing all parties together, and broadcasting those (health care) negotiations on C-SPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are."

*Private-sector jobs in the U.S. fell by 84,000 in December, the smallest drop since March 2008, and service providers added jobs, according to a national employment report published Wednesday by payroll company Automatic Data Processing Inc. and consultancy Macroeconomic Advisers. Separately, the U.S. nonmanufacturing sector expanded in December, but barely, according to data released Wednesday by the Institute for Supply Management. The ADP loss is slightly below the 90,000 drop projected by economists in a Dow Jones Newswires survey. The estimated change of employment from October to November was revised by 24,000, from a decline of 169,000 to a decline of 145,000. "We're clearly moving now in the right direction," said Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, which compiles the survey for ADP. He expects payrolls to turn positive in the first quarter and gain strength in second half. The ADP survey tallies only private-sector jobs, while the Bureau of Labor Statistics' nonfarm payroll data, to be released Friday, include government workers. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect the BLS will report December payrolls fell by only 10,000, following the 11,000 jobs lost in November. The expected December loss would be the best showing for the labor markets since December 2007, when jobs grew 120,000. The December unemployment rate is projected to edge up to 10.1% from 10.0%. Friday's report will include benchmark revisions to the household survey which includes the unemployment rate. Macroeconomic Advisers projects the jobless rate will peak above 10% in the first quarter and fall only slowly, remaining above 9% by end-2010. The latest ADP report showed large businesses with 500 employees or more shed 34,000 jobs and medium-size businesses lost 25,000 workers in December. Small businesses that employ fewer than 50 workers cut 25,000 jobs.

*Tyrese was involved in a car crash in Miami yesterday. However, not only was no one hurt -- the singer and the driver he collided with went for spa treatments afterwards. T-M-Z reports Tyrese crashed his Dodge Charger into an S-U-V on Biscayne Boulevard, wrecking both rides. The S-U-V flipped over, but miraculously the driver -- a mother of five -- was left unscathed. Tyrese later wrote on his Twitter page, "Mother of five left without one scratch and we ended up hangin' at the spa for a massage."

*A day after we saw Tiger Woods topless on the cover of Vanity Fair comes news that we may get a chance to see the pro golfer bottomless, too. T-M-Z says a Tiger Woods sex video is on the market. Steven Hirsch, the head of Vivid Entertainment, tells the gossip blog that a woman has approached him about the video, which was shot about two years ago. However, Hirsch isn't confirming if it's really Tiger on the vid.

"DIABETES MAY BE TO BLAME IN DEATH OF HEIRESS"

*Investigators are saying heiress Casey Johnson may have died because she failed to take her diabetes medication. Though the heir to the Johnson and Johnson fortune was known to have battled drug addiction in the past, police say there were no obvious signs she took illicit drugs before her death. A police source tells People magazine, "The speculation is she came home after a night of partying and passed out without taking her meds or her insulin and that was the end of her." The results of toxicology tests are pending.

*Kathy Griffin has been banned from C-N-N after dropping an F-bomb while co-hosting the network's New Year's Eve show, according to PopEater.com. A source tells the gossip site, "She was a total embarrassment to the network that calls themselves 'The Most Trusted Name in News.' Even Anderson [Cooper, her co-host] thinks it's time to say goodbye to Kathy." A C-N-N rep denies the report and says "no decisions have been made regarding next year's show." This is the second year in a row that the controversial comedienne has uttered obscenities on C-N-N's New Year's Eve coverage.

*Jayson Williams is in more trouble. The former N-B-A star was arrested yesterday on a D-W-I charge after hitting a tree with his S-U-V. T-M-Z says Williams, who's out on bail while awaiting a re-trial in his manslaughter case, fractured his neck and was officially charged by police while he was laid up at Bellevue Hospital Center in New York. A source says prosecutors are asking that his bail be revoked.

"MICHELLE OBAMA ENDORSES PETA...WITHOUT KNOWING IT"

*People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, one of the nation's largest animal-rights organizations, has begun using an image of first lady Michelle Obama in its ads -- without her permission. The campaign, which places Mrs. Obama between Oprah Winfrey and Carrie Underwood, uses the tagline "Fur-free and Fabulous." PETA rep Ingrid Newkirk says, "We haven't asked the White House to fund or promote the campaign, as they can't do such things, but the fact is that Michelle Obama has issued a statement indicating that she doesn't wear fur, and the world should know that in PETA's eyes, that makes her pretty fabulous."

"CHECK, PLEASE!"

*When a man takes a woman to dinner and the waiter brings the check, a whopping 50% of women do the polite thing and at least "reach" for the check (or their purse), even if they don't really expect to pay. So Glamour did some research to find out what men really think of the "reach." Here are 5 of the responses they got:

Guy #1: "The reach is transparent, but necessary. It seems entitled to not make some gesture to help pay, even if the girl knows the guy won't actually take her up on it."

Guy #2: "I want her to do a blatantly ceremonial reach. The guy should always pay on the first date; it's part of the old-fashioned mating dance."

Guy #3: "If the 'reach' is obviously insincere, then I consider it a bunch of B.S. I'm very open and likely would have already told her I was paying before the meal. If she demanded to contribute half, then before the meal is the right time to make it known."

Guy #4: "I generally appreciate the reach ... There's a noticeable difference between the more common 'reach' bluff and a bona-fide 'reach' with a serious intention to split the check. Obviously, I give more credit for the latter."

Guy # 5: "I appreciate the gesture, but don't mind if it's skipped on a first date. A lack of 'thank you' is poor form, but also excusable ... once. Twice is a dealbreaker."

QUESTION: Do you make a polite "reach" for the check, even when you totally expect the guy to pay? Has any guy ever let you pay? Did you see him again?

HEALTHY MATTERS:

"HEALTH: How to Shoot Up 1-0-1"

*New York State recently published a booklet that instructs drug addicts on how to use safely. The city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene printed about 70-thousand copies of the Take Charge Take Care handbook, which offers information on H-I-V testing and the dangers of sharing needles. D-E-A special agent-in-charge John Gilbride says the handout is disturbing, calling it a "step-by-step instruction on how to inject a poison." Assistant Commissioner Daliah Heller says instructions on how to perform injections were included because there's "a less harmful way to inject."

TODAY'S BLACK HISTORY MOMENT:

"The Creation of the Peabody Fund"

*On January 6th, 1867, the Peabody Fund was established to provide money for construction, endowments, scholarships, teacher salaries and industrial education for newly freed slaves.

"Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." Matthew 24:44