CitySurfing Orlando

If marine animals are your thing, then you’ll want to check out a new series that will be debuting on TV starting in April 2012.

“Sea Rescue” is a half-hour weekly series, produced in partnership with Litton Entertainment, that will be hosted by environmental journalist and “Good Morning America” anchor Sam Champion.

It will feature stories of the rescue, rehabilitation and return to the wild of marine animals by a team of dedicated veterinarians, animal care experts, animal science researchers and government authorities.

“Sea Rescue” will debut on April 7, 2012, and will be broadcast nationally on Saturday mornings during Litton’s Weekend Adventure, a three-hour block of six 1/2 hour series aimed at educating kids and anyone else who wants to learn more about the world around us. The show will follow “Good Morning America” in most markets.

Thanks to SeaWorld for the photo!

Over the years, the Orlando nightlife scene has been written about by many, including myself. But none had more love and enthusiasm for this scene than Orlando Sentinel’s nightlife columnist, Kelly Fitzpatrick.

Sadly, it seems that voice has been silenced, as it was revealed this weekend that Fitzpatrick passed away early Friday morning (September 23) at home in her sleep. The cause of her death has yet to be determined. She was 36.

She started at the Sentinel 15 years ago, working her way to her own column and one thing that really set her stories apart were that she always tried to find the fun in every situation. Yes, she did the standard calendar-type of articles (this is happening here at this time, etc.), but when she reviewed a place or event, she always based a lot of her opinion on whether people were having fun…and whether she had fun.

That’s one thing we often agreed on. It doesn’t matter whether it was a dive bar or a high-end club, people should be having fun when they went out. And she didn’t just highlight bars and clubs, but she explored all that Orlando had to offer for entertainment, including art galleries, festivals, live music, and more.

In losing Fitzpatrick, Orlando not only lost a voice of the city but a good-hearted person who truly cared about the people she met and friended along the way.

We’ll miss you Kelly.

Funeral service will be held at Annunciation Catholic Church at 10 am on Wednesday, September 28th at Annunciation Catholic Church 1020 Montgomery Rd Altamonte Springs, FL 32714 The burial will take place immediately after the service at Highland Park Memorial Cemetary in Apopka.

Our condolences to her family.

[Photo courtesy Kelly Fitzpatrick's Facebook page]

If you’re a fan of WHTQ 96.5 FM and its classic rock format, you’re not going to like this bit of news at all.

As of Friday, August 19, 2011, at 5am, WHTQ will be replaced on air by a simulcast of Talk WDBO, which currently airs on the AM side of the dial at 580.

WHTQ will be taking its classic rock online to 96RockOrlando.com and can also be heard on HD2 radio. But those of us who cranked the station on our regular car radios will not have access to the station anymore.

Of the switch, Susan Larkin, Vice President of Cox Media Group’s Orlando radio operations says, “The simulcast of WDBO on FM allows us to penetrate twice the previously available listening audience to serve our local community as well as our advertisers.”

The WDBO line-up will remain the same, from local news with Jim Turner from 5-9am to the syndicated shows of Clark Howard, Sean Hannity and others.

Looks like I’ll be changing the station in my car to something else. How about you? If you want to let the station know how you feel, hit up 96Rock on Facebook.

This week, a new local TV station hits the airwaves in Orlando. It’s called MeTV and its programming relies on classic series from the 50s through the 70s.

It debuts at 5am on Monday, July 11, and runs 24/7 with programming. Among the regulars on the schedule are comedy classics like “M*A*S*H,” “Cheers,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “I Love Lucy” and “The Bob Newhart Show.”

Westerns play a big part, with “The Big Valley,” “Rawhide,” and “Marshal Dillon,” as do crime dramas like “Perry Mason,” “Streets of San Francisco,” and the original “Hawaii 5-0.” I’m hoping they eventually add “Man from U.N.C.L.E.” – I watched that one all the time as a kid.

MeTV is broadcast for free on digital Channel 2.2. It can also be found on Cox Cable on channel 112, Brighthouse on channel 468, and Comcast at channel 216. The channel is not available in HD.

It doesn’t currently have a website that I can find, but you can see a programming line-up here or view a slide show at MeTV’s sister station WESH-TV.

WKMG news anchor Lauren Rowe has had a tough time of it lately in her personal life.

This includes the recent discovery of a nodule on her thyroid.  Following a recommended biopsy, Rowe was told the tumor would have to be surgically removed to discover if it was benign or not. This week, she went in to have that procedure done.

Thankfully, according to a video posting on Facebook, it appears Rowe pulled through the surgery and is now recovering.

CitySurfing Orlando sends Rowe our best wishes and look forward to seeing her on the air again, when she is ready. Take care, Lauren!

[Image courtesy of WKMG Channel 6]