Brette Lea, the former KPRC-TV Houston newswoman who first reported on the Firestone tire mess, is proud of the work she did in 1996 but regrets not being able to stay with the story when she moved to WKRN-TV Nashville, Tenn. Even though Firestone has a strong Nashville presence, she said, the accidents she had reported were all in Texas and the local angle wasn't strong enough.
Lea was reporting on the death of Houston reporter Steven Gauvain, and "I got a few leads and thought something funky was going on." She credits Houston's KHOU-TV with picking up the story and running with it. "They certainly deserve the credit for taking it to this level," she said. "Do I wish I was a part of it? Damned straight."
All news is local. Contact Dan Trigoboff at (301) 260-0923,
e-mail dtrig@erols.com, or fax (202) 463-3742.
