Not to toot our own horn here, but News Channel 8 was the only television station in Connecticut to provide live coverage of President Bush's main reason for visiting the state today, his appearance before the Business Council of Fairfield County to talk about health care costs and in particular, his administration's push for Health Care Savings Accounts for individuals.

We were live with the President in Bridgeport for nearly an hour from 11am until Noon. That did mean the pre-emption of today's edition of "The View", which some viewers called to let us know they weren't happy about. Other viewers called to ask why we would cover the group of protestors outside the site of the President's visit?

First things first. We covered the Presidential visit because he doesn't visit the state everyday, and the topic of health care costs is an important one to every American. So interrupting "The View" for one day to allow people across the state to see and hear what Mr. Bush and others had to say, seemed like the right thing to do from a news perspective. We do apologize to you folks who are fans of "The View".

And to provide some balance to our coverage, we also reported on the group of people who weren't happy about the President's visit. They used the occasion to make their own statement on a number of issues which they disagree with his administration.

To us, that is what providing the whole story is supposed to be about. You can watch our coverage of the Presidential visit from the main web page at wtnh.com, including video of the entire event with the Business Council in Bridgeport.

Just another example of why we believe it when we say that News Channel 8 and wtnh.com provide Coverage You Can Count On.

This weekend we do the first half of the annual ritual known as Daylight Saving Time or DST, where we "Spring Ahead" by turning clocks ahead one hour in the overnight hours between Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. Dr. Mel has a great look at how DST came to be, if you scroll down this page.

But did you know that this is the last year that DST will begin in Spring? Or that one group is finally observing DST for the first time this year?

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Even though the "big dance" is over now for the Connecticut men's and women's basketball teams, there is one final score that is worth a quick review.

Pardon us for sounding a little biased here, but no other station compares when it comes to covering UConn's teams all season long (and not just at tournament time) than the folks who make up our Sports Team here at News Channel 8.

Sports Anchor John Pierson was with the Women as they battled through University Park, PA and right in our backyard in Bridgeport. Sports Director Noah Finz was with with the Men for their great games in Philadelphia and Washington, DC.

Backed up by Anchor Marc Robbins and Producer Erik Dobratz here in Connecticut, we believe there is no better team either On-Air or On-Line to follow both Huskies squads not just in March, but all year long.

Enough said. We look forward to covering their next seasons.

Normally you wouldn’t see me on News Channel 8. I am just one of the many professionals in our newsroom who do our jobs to help bring you the news every day working behind the cameras. And that usually is fine with me.

But on this Friday, I ended up as part of a story reported by our Alan Cohn, who was covering a public hearing at the state capitol by the legislature’s judiciary committee. I was testifying before the committee on an important issue that I think the viewers of our newscasts should know more about.

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For the second time in less than a week, a story centering on racial division and harassment has been a lead story on News Channel 8. Reporter Jamie Muro had the story on our 10 & 11pm newscasts on Saturday night. You can see Jamie's report as it aired by going to this weblink:

http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=4586136

In this case, a black employee at General Dynamics' Electric Boat division, one of the largest employers in the state, told us about he had been the victim of harassment by five white employees, while working on the Groton Submarine Base. He filed a complaint with both his company and the New London chapter of the NAACP.

The employee, is a senior engineer for EB. He, the NAACP, and Electric Boat all say a prompt investigation followed the complaint, resulting in what Electric Boat tells News Channel 8 was "terminating five employees for participating in an incident of group bullying and harassment with racial overtones" this past Friday.

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There are news stories that come along that immediately generate a lot of discussion.

This seems to be happening in the wake of Sara Welch's exclusive story on Monday night's Non-Stop News at 10 & 11pm. In that report, we heard from two African-American nuns who say they were refused service by a white waitress in a Windsor Locks restaurant. The two women say that they were asked to leave the restaurant by police who arrived after being called by the management.

You can see Sara's original report from Monday by going to the following weblink:
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=4560360
the follow-up story from Tuesday night is at this weblink:
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=4565513
And our Thursday night follow-up with details from the police report at this weblink:
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=4573418

Of course there will be more details to come in finding out exactly what happened in that restaurant on Saturday night, but the specific accusation of racism is something that has people talking across our state.

So we want to know what you think--both about Sara's report and of the question of racism in Connecticut in 2006.

We want to hear from you--and share your opinions with others. Please take a moment to click on the comment button below and give us your thoughts.

If you have ever struggled to take a snapshot or a home video of your friends or a special event, you know it can be tough to take a good picture. So you can understand some of the pressure of the job of being a news photographer, trying to capture the compelling images in every second of a breaking story.

Here at News Channel 8, we have a truly amazing staff of videojournalists who go out everyday and capture many moments with their cameras that we use to tell our stories. Of course, some stories test even the most experienced of those who work behind the lens, and Thursday night's three-alarm factory fire in Fair Haven would be one of those kind of stories.

You can't just point a camera at a fire and show all the power of an inferno, the danger to the firefighters who battle it and everything else that is going on at the same time. That is why tonight's work from videojournalists Tim Clune, Al Mack, and Kevin Frederick is worth special mention. The images from this trio of our colleagues, along with the words of reporters Michael Herzenberg and Jamie Muro, told two great stories that we were proud to bring to you.

On this Thursday, reporter Erin Cox visited the hunting and fishing expo in Hartford to talk with sportsmen about Vice-President Cheney's recent hunting accident. In her report, Erin cited the Connecticut law in which if you shoot someone while hunting, even if its an accident, it is considered a crime.

This is one of those stories that will typically draw a lot of comments to us in the newsroom from people on both sides of the issues about gun ownership, and sport shooting. While we think Erin did a balanced story about the questions of hunting safely in the wake of the well-publicized accident in Texas, it is always interesting to hear from our viewers.

Plus, our daily online poll asked the question "Do you think too much is being made of Dick Cheney's hunting accident?" The response was 70% yes and 30% no.

We would like to hear from you. Click on the "Comments" link below to share your opinions with us.