I know I said I was going on vacation, but I can't stay away.

Here's an interesting story out of St. Louis. 

KMOV News Director Brian Thouvenot has ordered up 10 gas masks for the news crews. It has almost become a must piece of equipment for the crews sent into Ferguson.  

Thouvenot sent a memo to the staff telling them that he placed the order. The first line of his memo starts with "Didn’t think this would be an order placed in my time as news director, let alone the first year."

Yeah, usually News Directors don't order gas masks until year 3 and that's because of the bullshit smell coming from the Sales Department.

Here's the internal memo obtained by FTVLive:

From: Brian Thouvenot
Sent: Monday, August 18, 2014 3:57:56 PM (UTC-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)
To: KMOV News
Cc: Mark Pimentel; Peggy Milner
Subject: Gas masks on order

Didn’t think this would be an order placed in my time as news director, let alone the first year.

However, due to the frequent use of tear gas in Ferguson to disperse crowds I have ordered 10 gas masks.  I want them with Reporters/Photographers using the Live U’s for the most part.

Despite having a gas mask, do not feel like you can act in a manner that puts you in harm’s way.  This is for protection purposes only and I hope they do not have to be used.

Your safety is always the top priority.
Brian Thouvenot
News Director KMOV TV