Newsroom Journal: Life of a Small-Town Editor (Sept. 17-19, 2009)
Thursday, Sept. 17
9:16 p.m. – I've always been one to try out new ideas. Over the years, some have worked out just fine; others were a miserable failure. What you are reading right now is an idea that hit me tonight. Of course, blogging has become a big thing the past couple of years. Communicating with friends and family through Facebook has taken off. And the Twitter phenomenon continues and has become a tool used by many newspapers around the country.
One of the most common questions I've heard since my arrival in Libby last year revolves around why I would leave Arizona to live in rural Montana? With an hour-intensive job that keeps me stranded in my office much of the time, I've found it difficult to get out and really get to know a lot of people.
This is the result of those two factors. For now, I'll update this "blog" – although I'm calling it a "Newsroom Journal" because that seems to be a better description – with whatever thoughts pop into my head. I'll share with you some of the things I encounter through the course of a day. I'll type in observations and experiences I come across living in northwestern Montana. Like the headline reads, "Life of a Small-Town Editor."
If you're interested, check back daily because I expect to add new entries during my work day (and sometimes, night). If you're not interested, I appreciate the fact that you've continued to read this far.
Tomorrow is a big day that climaxes with a trip to Troy for the Trojans' 7-B District game against Eureka. Libby is also playing in town with a nonconference meeting against Hamilton. I wish I could be in two places at the same time. I'd like to see how the Loggers play this week because I feel they're capable of doing some good things this season. But I also want to watch Troy to see if they can stop Chad Price and the preseason conference favorite Lions.
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9:46 p.m. – Reading news online tonight. I just came across an article in the Invermere Valley Echo out of British Columbia. With the headline, "Asbestos in the valley," it tells about the struggles of what has happened in some Canadian homes because of what happened between the 1950s and 1970s. During that time period, the Canadian government offered homeowners a grant to upgrade their homes with vermiculite. Of course, one of the main suppliers was W.R. Grace out of Libby.
Here's a link to the story: http://www.bclocalnews.com/kootenay_rockies/invermerevalleyecho/news/59254432.html
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9:53 p.m. – Bruce Vincent of Libby, a third-generation logger and part of the management team at Environomics, will be the featured speaker next January at the Minnesota Farm Bureau's Promotion and Education Conference in Bloomington. Bruce has developed quite a reputation as a speaker and he will deliver the conference's keynote address, "With Vision, There is Hope." Good luck to Bruce.
If you want to read a guest column that Bruce penned for the Western News back in May, follow this link: http://www.thewesternnews.com/articles/2009/05/28/editorials/doc4a1eb50b04084998823754.txt
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10:10 p.m. – Here's a tidbit from the past. This is from the Feb. 18, 1954 edition of the Ellensburg (Wash.) Daily Record: "Probe Report Eagles Kill Deer in Montana." With the dateline of Libby, the story reports that a flock of eagles has been swooping down and killing deer near Rexford. Loggers in the area reported that the eagles were "pouncing on the backs of unwary deer, sinking talons into their backs and pecking them to death." Game officials were expected to investigate.
On that note, I think it's time to call it a day … Brad