HOT PURSUIT
I’m holding my breath that the crazy busyness of the news world subsides just a little.
It seems as if we’ve been overwhelmed with news over the past several weeks—both planned and unplanned events. Memorial Day, end of school activities and graduations top the list of planned events.
Since mid-May, Steele County has experienced at least three tragedies in which lives have been lost in motor vehicle/motorcycle crashes. We also have had a few other close calls seriously injuring people.
Sometimes it feels like I’m constantly putting out breaking news alerts, which if you haven’t signed up for them, send your request to be added with your email address to news@steelecountytimes.com. There is no charge.
On the positive side, the Blossoms softball team is in the hunt for its first state title since 2013. The Blossoms snagged the section title last week, and Johnnie Phillips was there to capture the magical moment with a stunning photo of joy from two of the players (this week’s large front-page photo). Johnnie is the best photojournalist I have seen in this area for years.
And no, we haven’t forgotten about the sex scandal at Christian Family Church. I know several of our readers have been inquiring about it. Our efforts had been delayed for a few reasons on our end, but we’ll be back to reporting on it soon with some great investigative journalism from Kay Fate.
Within the past three weeks, we have twice published our largest newspapers of the year—40 pages. Just the thought of it takes my breath away. We honestly can’t get any larger unless we add a special section into the mix.
Even with that many pages, we still had to hold 10 staff-produced stories (some have been holding for several weeks) plus several photos and other columns written by readers and press releases submitted by organizations. There simply wasn’t enough room.
People often ask me what the slowest time of the year is for us. And to be honest I really don’t know that we have a slow time. I wish we did. It seems as if it’s constantly busy all the time. There is no shortage of news to cover. I’m hoping for a little breathier now that schools are out, and graduations are nearing completion.
We are always working ahead and planning special projects. We’ve already begun working on the Fourth of July celebration in Blooming Prairie as well as other community celebrations and area fairs lurking around the corner. As our dear friend at the Steele County Fair, Scott Kozelka, always says, “It’s only (68) days to the fair (as of Wednesday).”
There are times when I feel like we’re spinning out of control with content and things to cover. But rest assured we’re committed to producing a solid newspaper no matter what it takes so that get your local news.
We love to go in hot pursuit of being your greatest local news source.