One week later

Add comment June 26th, 2009

Last Friday, a Canadian National train carrying ethanol derailed and exploded at the intersection of South Mulford and Sandy Hollow roads. A Rockford woman died and nine people were injured in the accident. It’s been one week, and we’re still piecing the story together. You’ll find all of our coverage here. Come to rrstar.com for the latest developments.

All swine flu, all the time

Add comment April 30th, 2009

We’re not hyperventilating over the swine flu outbreak (after all, our editor would tell you not to), but we have collected all of our coverage, plus links, on a special report page. Plus, you can always monitor the headlines on HealthyRockford.com.

Teens’ killer up for parole in February

Add comment 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.

Hard to believe gas is below 3 bucks

Add comment October 17th, 2008

One week ago, we celebrated when we filled up the tank at $3.33.

Today, gas is $2.99.

While “pain at the pump” isn’t as painful as it used to be, it reminded me that we have a special report that highlight’s Thomas Bona’s musings, links and recent coverage.

And don’t forget to have fun looking at old gas station photos and readers’ memories of the price of gas when they started driving.

now presenting, crime stoppers

Add comment September 18th, 2008

police are seeking your help. this month, rrstar.com launched an area under “special reports” for rockford area crimestoppers to list and picture fugitives. so check it out here.

this concept is not new: the local crime stoppers was founded 27 years ago.

pro-am: the forecast is …

Add comment July 10th, 2008

… sunny and a cool high of 80 degrees monday. cool, i say, because i usually melt in 90-degree weather out there: i’m the captain of the register star’s marshalls on hole 15 of forest hills cc. we hold the quiet signs and find errant drives, counting how many go in the water each year.

if you’re thinking about taking a vacation day to watch the pros you normally only see on tv, get the basics, an interactive course map and q&a at our pro-am site. plus you can see all of our stories here.

AirFest first-timer finds excitement in the skies

Add comment June 11th, 2008

Multimedia artist and designer Margo Morgan wanted to share the following story on B&C, so here you go:”Last Saturday, I shot some video of AirFest. I’d never been before, so I didn’t really think it was going to be very sexy, I expected just a bunch of nerdy guys oogling military planes and talking about thrust and jets.

But it was amazing to watch the aircraft swirl, swoop and barrel through the sky. I guess it’s something you don’t really understand until you see it.

And it was really challenging to capture it on video. I managed to get some halfway decent shots of the airplanes as they performed. Here’s some “B-roll” footage that didn’t make it into our videos that I thought you might enjoy.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/tpC9J3IJRNo" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Check out our other video from the weekend for rrstar, too.

Belvidere tornado remembered

Add comment April 21st, 2008

At our news meeting this morning, we looked at our calendar that highlights what we call “moments of life.” We use the calendar to remind of us of annual events, anniversaries, special days (did you know Earth Day is tomorrow) and more.

Turns out today is the 41st anniversary of the tornado that killed 24 people in 1967 when it ripped through Belvidere. Back in January, when another tornado tore through Boone County, we resurrected our special report on the 1967 twister.

The special report, completely interactive, is comprehensive. Go back in time to remember or learn more.

New blog, special report

Add comment January 15th, 2008

Whoo, hoo. The Packers are playing Sunday for the opportunity to go to the Super Bowl. Here’s one fan who isn’t shy about telling you who she’s rooting for Sunday. I also wanted to share that we launched Pack Smack, a blog about, well, the Packers. I’ll be adding my obsessive fan thoughts there. Others will give a more neutral viewpoint. (Don’t say I didn’t warn you.) We also have a new special report that we will continue to populate with content. Enjoy.

Visual artist’s take

2 comments January 10th, 2008

We got a mention on Charles Apple’s blog yesterday. Apple is the “graphics guru of The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va.” And he liked our online coverage and special report page on the Boone tornado. Read this post.

(Check out the “Part 1″ and “Part 2″ videos on the special report page. More coming.)