Monthly Archive for February, 2006

Page 2 of 5

Schilling to Seek Reelection

Republican City Councilor Rob Schilling will seek a second term, Rick Sincere writes. He intends to announce his campaign at Clark Elementary on Tuesday, at 11am. With no other candidates so much as rumored, the race will likely pit Democrats Dave Norris and Julian Taliaferro against Schilling.

02/21 Update: Rick covers the kick-off.

The Hook Launches a Blog

Just six days after the Daily Progress launched a blog, The Hook has launched a blog of their own. In a note from editor Hawes Spencer in this week’s issue, the paper announces their plan to “provide both a digest of local news and a mix of fresh observations as well as that thing we were put on this earth to do: fresh reporting.”

So far I’m impressed. The paper has been maintaining the blog in secret for some time now, as evidenced by the backlog of posts, and the mixture of types of stories covered and sources demonstrate a commitment to not just rehashing what’s in the paper, but providing new information and, when appropriate, crediting and linking stories to competing local media outlets. The site is run on WordPress, the software that powers this blog. The only gaffe is a failure to include an author on blog entries, which isn’t very bloggy, but if that’s my biggest complaint, that’s pretty good.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I eagerly await the day when local media websites are so good, and the local blogging community so strong, that cvillenews.com no longer serves a purpose. I will happily shut down this site on that day, and I encourage area bloggers and media outlets to do what they can to hasten its demise.

Woolen Mills Traffic

I’ve decided to broaden the range of source material that I use for stories on cvillenews.com, and that means highlighting material from local blogs that addresses local matters. I can’t think of anything better to start with than Bill Emory‘s great blog entry from yesterday.

He’s provided a comprehensive piece about automobile traffic in the Woolen Mills, where he lives, looking at the history of the neighborhood, the cause of the problem, its immediate symptoms, a suggestion of how the city might address it, and even some photos (naturally — this is Bill Emory, after all) and a hand-drawn map.

So old houses are closer to the road because they were built before the ubiquity of the internal combustion engine. I had no idea.

School Threats Usually Not Serious

Melanie Mayhew has a great piece in today’s Progress about the importance of not overreacting to threats of violence in high schools, as in the case of the alleged planning of attacks on local high schools by three students. It’s tempting for news outlets to hype such stories, because it gets readers and viewers, but the fact is that idle declarations of violent intent are common among unhappy middle- and high-school students, while actual incidents are very rare. Lisa Provence has an article that touches on some of the same themes in this week’s Hook. It’s nice to see some rationality emerging from the discussion of this incident.

Purnell’s Job Eliminated

Ron writes: “For the second time in less than a year, Dr. Laura Purnell has been advised that her job is being eliminated. Unlike last time, she has decided not to fight the decision. In a letter issued today by the acting superintendent, Bobby Thompson,sent to all central office staff and principals, Dr. Purnell stated that she will be placing her home on the market and looking for opportunities elsewhere.”

I can’t find anything about this in the way of news coverage. Can anybody confirm this?

02/15 Update: Sarah Barry confirms this in today’s Progress.

Sideblog