Daily Item Reader Photos, back again

Now that the Prom Perfect contest is over, Daily Item readers have resumed sending in their artistic photos in, depicting life in the Valley in a unique and up-front way.

It’s also almost summertime – which means I’m in the mood to go outside, plant flowers and enjoy the sunshine – though as yesterday’s post reveals, this week hasn’t been the best for that.

Anyway, here’s my favorite recent reader photos, depicting the best of the beginning of sweet summertime:

“China Loves Treats,” by Cindy Hoffman, Richfield

“Crayfish,” by Rita Kurtz, Selinsgrove

Stories that touch you – Charles Attig

Rosa Attig holds up a photo of her son, Charles Attig Jr., who died while serving as a Shamokin Dam Police officer on June 10, 1983 after being shot.

Every once in awhile as a reporter, you do stories that really touch you and really move you.

For me last week, it was the story of Shamokin Dam police officer Charles Attig Jr, who was shot in the line of duty in 1983, 30 years ago today.

Here’s the story I ended up with.

But what the story doesn’t tell you is that this story was one that just gripped me from the beginning. It is tragic, but the hero, “Charlie” as he was known, was a great guy and deserves to have his life celebrated for the great thing it was.

As you can see from the comments on the story, he touched just about everyone he came into contact with, acting as not only a good police officer, but as one of the people I talked to said, “a good neighbor too.”

His family and friends remember him as a great guy who only wanted to help others. It really affected me, in a way I can’t explain.

Please read the story and let me know what you think.

 

How well do you know your neighbors?

This morning, the entire country is buzzing with the news that three women, missing for more than 10 years were found alive inside a Cleveland house.

As pictures of the house came out – it looks like a typical urban neighborhood, with houses lining the street, neighbors walking around, etc.

The man arrested for the crime was well-known in the neighborhood, according to Charles Ramsey, who rescued the women:

“Yeah, we all knew him!”

Here’s that interview:

So that got us thinking: how well do you know your neighbors?

I’ve lived in several different places in recent years, and honestly, there were times I wouldn’t know my neighbors if they walked down the street past me.

Is that a problem? Should we know our neighbors better?

One Daily Item newser says of his/her neighbors:

I am 75 percent sure that no one is doing anything illegal. True monsters are people and you just don’t know where they live.

Very true.

What do you think? How well do you know your neighbors?

Facebook reaction to gun story

Yesterday, I talked about a tragic case involving two young children in Kentucky.

The case has created a lot of reaction from across the board, including on The Daily Item’s Facebook page. Here’s a taste of that:

The consensus seems to be that poor parental supervision may be to blame in this situation – although I would say it can be so easy to overlook something that other people think is obvious if you’re busy and frazzled, such as when trying to take care of a house and at least two young children.

And only about 5 posts blaming “the media” – that’s a win in my book.

Anyway, you can read more at dailyitem.com, but the company that made the gun isn’t commenting until a full investigation is complete.

What’s your take on situation? Do we need stricter gun laws or was this just a tragic accident?

‘After Deadline’ comes alive once more!

Yesterday, we at the Daily Item re-launched an old favorite: the daily video segment known as “Daily Item After Deadline.”

It stars reporters Francis Scarcella and Rick Dandes. I’m the executive producer.

It kind of a twist on the “newsroom reveals its budget for the next day” trend.

Here’s where you can watch the first episode.

The daily segment will feature all of the day’s major headlines, as well as include some cool features like special guests, on-the-street reporting and weather segments as time goes on.

It will be posted at dailyitem.com each day at around 5 to 6 p.m., depending on how the day’s going – for example today it was up after 6, wince it was a super busy day in the newsroom.

Hopefully you’ll be tuning in each day, and we’d love to hear from you what you think and would like to see! Let us know on our Facebook page!

Below are some still shots from behind-the-scenes of the first day of production, showing Francis, Rick and Dave Hilliard working the camera:

Daily Item Reader Photos Part 3

There’s a new batch of spectacular reader photos submitted to dailyitem.com.

Here’s some of my favorites:

Photo by Sharon Moyer, Winfield

Who was closest: Guessing the new pope

 

 Here at the Daily Item, we were on pope watch, no doubt.

So in the newsroom, we decided to take some guesses to see who could be closest on the following items:

1. How long would the conclave last?
2. Where would the new pope be from?
3. How old would he be?

Here’s how it shook out: Basically, we all stink at guessing the pope.

Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina, 76, was chosen. He will be Francis I.

Here he is – from http://www.ekkonoticias.com.ar/?p=5749

How long would the conclave last?

Managing/Features editor Joanne Arbogast guessed spot on that the conclave would only last one full day. (We didn’t count Tuesday evening as a day, since that is considered to be a dummy vote anyway).

So, congrats on that, Joanne.

Where would the new pope be from?

No one had Argentina. But, two people did pick a South American pope – reporter Marcia Moore and photographer Amanda August.

They both had Brazil – but I’ll give them credit for being on the right continent.

How old would he be?

This one was all me.

I had the closest at 74 – most people went younger, late 60s, early 70s.

In conclusion

I’m not even going to try to name an overall winner. Because we were all over the place on this one.

So, in conclusion, don’t bet the house on our papal bets.

Favorite DI reader photos

You may have noticed that at DailyItem.com you can now upload your own photos for our reader slideshow.

Each week, The Scrapbook selects one to feature, and the photos are featured on our homepage.

And these photos are good.

Here’s some of my favorites – check out the rest at DailyItem.com.

“Ricketts Glen State Park,” by Anthony Bendele, Sunbury

Story goes Facebook viral

If there’s one thing I know about the news, it’s that people love restaurant news – what’s opening, what’s closing, what’s even thinking about opening a new location.

And now with social media, it’s even easier to get people the news they’re dying to know about.

Take, for example, a story that broke this week, that Texas Roadhouse is planning to take over the former Ruby Tuesday site in Hummels Wharf. I posted the story on Facebook, and it exploded. It got something like 150 likes.

But that’s not the most impressive stat.

Facebook metrics tracks a stat that indicates how many “shares” a story has. It shares this data on your newsfeed when you like a page to give you an idea of what people with similar interests are talking about. If there’s a really exciting story, sometimes it will have 200 shares.

Here’s the stats that popped up on my newsfeed Friday:

847?! Amazing!

Just goes to show you – sometimes it’s not the investigative, hard-hitting news people want to read…..it’s just as simple as checking zoning applications.

 

Talking with a NASCAR legend

Image from: janetguthrie.com

Yesterday, I got to talk with Janet Guthrie, the first female to qualify for the Daytona and Indianapolis 500 races and the previous record holder for the highest start by a woman in the NASCAR sprint cup series.

Her record was broken by Danica Patrick Sunday.

Guthrie said she was  happy to see another female reach success in the male-dominated racing world and wished Patrick the best.

One cool thing about Guthrie is that she raced with some of the sport’s legends – like Mario Andretti, Richard Petty and Bill Elliot.  On her website, Guthrie has some cool quotes made by these guys about her. Here’s some of my favorites:

“If she had a better ride, she’d probably win one of these [Winston Cup] events.”
- Richard Petty,
Jacksonville (FL) Journal, Feb. 17, 1978

“I think she has done a hell of a job. She’s got a good head on her shoulders. I’ve seen many guys who had much more trouble with Indy than she has had, from the standpoint of belonging on the course. Anyone who says she doesn’t belong, just feels threatened.”
- Mario Andretti
Washington Star, May 29, 1977

“There is no question about her ability to race with us. More power to her. She has ‘made it’ in what I think is the most competitive racing circuit in the world.”
-Cale Yarborough
Rochester (NY) Times-Union, Dec. 2, 1977