NEWS BLOG (WSAU) Starting this afternoon, you will notice some changes to our web site, WSAU.com.

Most obviously, the WSAU home page will change. What will be different?

• We’ll be able to display more news stories on the homepage, and the homepage will ‘scroll’ through our top stories. It will be easier for you to see what stories we’re covering.
• We will add new podcasting capabilities. Newscasts, weather, sports, business news and our Center Stage feature will continue to be available as podcasts. Starting Monday, we’ll be able to make more of our on-air content available from the WSAU Wisconsin Morning News, WSAU Feedback, even high school play-by-play.
• We will be able to display breaking news clearer than ever before. Urgent stories, weather warnings, and important programming alerts will display in a large red banner at the top of our home page. That banner will be linked to more information on those stories.
• It will be easier to find WSAU’s blog and station events. They’ll be right there on the homepage.
• We will have a bigger and better events section, where we’ll post sporting events and station events in our area. Eventually this will expand so community groups can post their events too.

And these changes will help prepare our web site for live, steaming video from our studio, which is coming in the near future.

In the meantime, you may notice that the WSAU web site doesn’t display correctly on your internet browser. We’ll have most of these cosmetic problems worked out in a day or two.

Chris Conley
Operations Manager-Midwest Communications, Wausau
3.5.10

Here’s a separate newsblog item:

Nancy Pelosi has been a bad Speaker of the House, but she has been good at lining up votes. I suspect she will be able to line up the votes needed for healthcare reform.

She’s in a bit of a box, because her members have to pass the Senate bill as-is. But there are committee assignments to be offered, campaign cash to be dangled, the threat of facing a primary back home to be wielded. Madame Speaker has been good at using the tools at her disposal. And when she wins someone’s vote, that support tends to be solid.

I’m not sure if Rep. Bart Stupack (D-Michigan) will cave over the abortion language. I’m certain some of his 12-member coalition will fold, or Pelosi will get the additional votes she needs from Blue Dogs who voted against the bill the last time.

Whether the voters have a memory long enough to last until November is up for debate.