Archive for December, 2008
December 31st, 2008
Wally Haas, our editorial page editor and a “long-timer” here, suggested we take a newsroom staff photo since it’s been since the early 2000s since we’ve done one. So many faces have changed, he reasoned. And heck, it’s a piece of our history.
It’s the most people I’ve ever seen in one of our photos like this.
Here’s wishing you a great 2009. I think most of us hope it’s better than 2008.
(Thanks, Scott Morgan, for taking the photo and sneaking into it — he’s farthest left.)
UPDATE: I, too, was frustrated that you can’t see faces close enough, so I’ve now uploaded the 6MB original.
December 30th, 2008
Good news! We’ve received more than 1,800 votes for Rockford Woman of the Year 2009, and you have until Jan. 7 to make your choice. I’d like to see more than double that number, which would top last year.
Our latest reminder to get you to vote is here. It also highlights all the dozens of women who were nominated. All should be honored.
December 29th, 2008
From photos to stories to videos, here’s what we think was tops this year.
December 23rd, 2008
Light fare for a holiday week. No surprise: Journalists are not considered prime marriage material. Well, we work wild hours, and we certainly aren’t making doctors’ salaries.
Although honestly, we fall in love with a person, not his or her job. So surveys like this are just amusement.
December 22nd, 2008
… and it’s time to vote for the second Rockford Woman of the Year Award.
We are proud of the dozens of women nominated and our five finalists: Mary Bartel, Janet Holmgren, Judy Schultz, Margaret “Peg” Wilkerson and Monica Williams. When you read about their personal and professional commitments, you will be inspired to be a better person.
You have until Jan. 7 to make your choice. The winner will be announced in the March-April issue of the magazine (and really, the night before it comes out, at a Feb. 19 invitation-only reception).
December 18th, 2008
Earlier today I told you about Dale Dean Finch, who is up for parole in February. He killed teens Michael Pixler and Randall Morton on Christmas Eve 1976. With today’s online story, we included a link to electronic petitions. So far, more than 170 people have filled out the petition to keep Finch in prison. I can’t remember that strong of a response on the first day … actually in the first seven hours.
December 18th, 2008
Three years ago I got a call from Shirley Pixler Guthrie, the mother of murder victim Michael Pixler. Shirley told me about Dale Dean Finch, who shot her son and Randall Morton execution style Christmas Eve 1976. The teens (Michael was 17; Randy was 16) were at work at a Rockford gas station. Finch stole $600, too.
Finch, 20 at the time, was sentenced to two consecutive 50- to 100-year terms for the murders and four to 12 years for the robbery. His next parole hearing is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2009.
I had just started in my job with rrstar.com, and Shirley needed help. We helped then by writing stories, editorials and offering online and print petitions for our readers to sign. To be fair, we offer petitions for and against parole. Hands down, 99 percent of people didn’t want Finch to get out of prison. Last time, Finch was denied parole.
Finch is up for parole again in February 2009. Sentencing laws back then were different than they are now. At each parole hearing, the Illinois Prisoner Review Board can vote to review the case in a year or hold off for as many as three years.
So, it’s that time again. I got a call from Shirley a few weeks ago asking if we planned to cover Finch’s hearing and if we would again offer the online petitions. We published this story today on rrstar.com. A print version will be in Friday’s newspaper.
You can learn more about this case by taking a look at our special report. You’ll find links to the online petitions, too.
I was interviewed by Editor & Publisher earlier this year about our practice of telling readers about upcoming paroles. We’ve done petitions for other victims, namely Joey Didier, Louise Betts, Michael Mayborne and the Nelson children.
It’s an important public service that we do. We are the voice for the voiceless. And this, to me, is one of the most important things I’ve done as a journalist. So, Shirley, we would be glad to help again and get the word out.
December 16th, 2008
You can now find out what the most popular items are on rrstar.com. Look for the widget under Yellow Pages and above Top Jobs along the right rail of the home page for the list. So far today, this brief is the most-clicked on story.
December 15th, 2008
Our “runway looks” are getting noticed…
Over the weekend, we shared this light video on how the Register Star is stocked with vests to wear at accidents and other road scenes.
Well, the National Press Photographers Association, the group that issues these vests, paid attention.
December 13th, 2008
You might see Register Star staffers wearing orange vests in the near future.
A new federal law requires anyone working on a federal highway to wear approved safety vests. Rather than worry about which are federal and which are not, whom it applies to or not, we — and the National Press Photographers Association and other media organizations — are adopting a “wear it anyway” policy
Reporters and visual journalists working a breaking news assignment where emergency crews are likely to be need to wear the vests, especially if out on a road or street.
We have 22 of these, and they came in this week.
Originally we were just going to take a photo and show you, but multimedia guru Chris Soprych enrolled delivery editor Collin Quick to have a little fun with a video.
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