News Hits is looking for just the right word to describe an incredible bit of bad timing MT copy editor Vic Doucette caught on radio station WWJ Newsradio 950. “Gawdawful” comes close to hitting mark, but even that falls a bit short. We’re talking about last week’s tragic story of a local man who killed his children and pregnant wife before committing suicide. According to the note he left behind, he couldn’t bear facing the consequences of his massive gambling debts (now you know why News Hits refuses to use the industry-preferred euphemism of gaming). A failed excursion to Las Vegas was the final straw. The station’s report was just fine. What grabbed the attention of Doucette, who put in a lot of years working for radio stations before coming to this rag (including as a traffic reporter for WWJ and other Detroit stations), was the ad that immediately followed: An upbeat jingle telling people it was time to feel the heat and start dancing in the street because the new Greektown Casino is now open for business.
In a business where timing is everything, the usually on-top-of-it WWJ really blew this one.
News Hits is edited by Metro Times news editor Curt Guyette. He can be reached at
