Thursday, November 04, 1999
Ex-Q102 director throws starry bash
BY JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Keeping up with old friends, we find that Von Freeman, former marketing director at WKRQ-FM (Q102), is now the toast of Hollywood.
He left here in 1997 for the same job at KIIS-FM, Los Angeles.
And has done plenty there, but nothing like last week's WB Radio Music Awards, a TV show he cooked up to honor excellence in radio.
“It was the mother lode of all parties,” says Cincinnati ad exec Rob Riggsbee, who went as Freeman's guest. “Every celebrity I met said, "Oh, you're a guest of Von? He's awesome.' I must have heard that 100 times at different parties.”
Oh yeah, parties — there were three before the show at Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay Resort. “One was poolside,” Riggsbee says, “where I met David Bowie, Garth Books, Wolfgang Puck and Fabrice (Morvan) from Milli Vanilli.”
That's also where another old friend surfaced: Trina Hamlin, known here for her dates at Coco's in Covington, was the entertainment.
Another party, this at Vegas' House of Blues, “got feisty. Tom Green (MTV host) was interviewing people, and asked David Cassidy if he slept with Shirley Jones in the Partridge Family days. David wanted to kill him.”
Successful event? Right. Plans are under way for next year.
FACT FINDING: Whoa, look what non-detective popped up on the Discovery Channel's New DetectivesTuesday.
It's Cincinnati surgeon Dr. John McDonough, talking about a 1997 murder trial and how new forensics techniques help authorities solve crimes and win convictions.
McDonough's case had to do with the murder of Rhoda Nathan here in 1995. One Elwood Jones came to him with a cut hand. McDonough fixed the infected wound, grew some cultures and discovered an eikenella organism.
Come trial date, the prosecution claimed Jones hurt his hand beating Nathan. Jones came up with three stories, all of which McDonough refuted when he testified that eikenella grows only in the human mouth, so Jones had to cut his hand beating someone.
The jury bought it. Jones was convicted and sentenced to death.
“It was shot last summer,” McDonough says, “They flew in a film crew and spent a day with me, then a day with the police.
“I haven't seen it yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if they cut it all down to 30 seconds.”
They didn't. It was 30 minutes.
MILLION $ MAN: One thing you gotta love about Cincinnati lobbyist Dick Weiland: Confidence.
“We never once used the word "if.' It was always "when.' ”
He's referring to the 17th annual Cincinnati Associates Tribute Dinner, a fund-raiser where Hebrew Union College Associates honor a shaker and mover.
This year it's Weiland, and it's a record breaker.
Consider: The record for a dinner honoring a local is $710,000 for 1998's tribute to Cinergy CEO Jim Rogers.
And this year? “We're at $1.7 million with a goal of $1.8,” Weiland said. “We'll make it. When, not if, is the question.
“I have calls out to people who know the cause and are always willing to support it.”
It's Sunday at the Hyatt Regency, downtown.
Knip's Eye View appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
