NewscomaGot A Two-Pack Habit And A Motel Tan

This may indeed be one of the oddest clarifications I’ve ever seen in a newspaper.

H/T Gigglesugar

I had to recuse myself from a story yesterday. Just like the judge and the district attorney, I had to say no to a story and I’m going to have to stay away from it.

Editor Bates will do just fine with it. It has to run. She’s a rock star anyway, although I don’t think she knows it. She’s amazing.

And I’m dealing with the emotions that go along with seeing someone that I know, that I grew up with and that is part of my family behave, how do I say it, absolutely awful.

Why, you may be asking? A distant family member was arrested. If he did what he’s accused of doing, then he will go to jail. For a long time, I might add. What did he do? Well, and the reporter is coming out in me, he allegedly beat the hell out of his girlfriend and held her captive. How bad was it?

Let’s just say the TBI is involved.

And the nieces found out about it at school. We knew over the weekend but we waited for the details. We didn’t tell them because we didn’t know the extent of what was happening. We knew it was bad. We didn’t know how bad it was. Some kid spilled the beans in all of it’s horribly glory to the oldest niece.

It’s bad. It’s heinous.

I talked to the oldest niece this morning. I told her I went to court and watched the arraignment, let those folks know that because of the family connection, I was out of it. Yesterday, she cried, according to Homer. I asked to speak to her which Homer said might be a good idea.

I own that this morning, as I talked to this 7th grader, I told the truth and another brick out of the wall of her innocence I personally knocked out. I’m not a mother, but we needed for her to know that Mister Right died a long time ago. I explained that it wasn’t a reflection of her but sometimes we get hit by emotional shrapnel. Being an adult in the life of a young person whom I adore is not always fun, but it’s necessary for her to know the realities.

Damn.

Note to young journalists in small town news, sometimes you have to just go look people in the eye because sometimes you will run things that are going to hurt feelings including your own. Own it and move forward. If you don’t make people mad, then you aren’t doing your job. It’s best to make both sides of an issue mad, because then you know you are doing your job well.

But it’s news. And despite the personal connections you might have, you HAVE to run these things because if you didn’t, then you become part of the problem.

There are no favors in news. There can’t be.

And, my dear friends, these things are the downside of working in small town news. I have put relatives on the front page and it’s never fun. With a writing staff of two and a half people, you can’t run from these things. And, although it can be painful and everyone thinks reporters are barracudas, we really aren’t. We are human and in the coming days,  I will see the hurt look on the faces of people I care about. Sometimes the news biz is amazingly wonderful, but there is always a flip side. This is a social business, a business where trust is crucial. We have to maintain that trust by reporting things we might want to hide our heads in the sand about but we can’t. Journalists just can’t.

And, although I recused myself, I’m still the editor and my name is all over that newspaper.

I say again, there are no favors in news and no one is above the law.

Is this person guilty? I am not a judge but I will say that the evidence thus far is overwhelming. And the sad fact that it’s not the first time.

I have put him on the front page before.

My day yesterday was one of the busiest I’ve had since I rejoined the news biz. And last night, I had to put on my Mary Sunshine face and go to a local event.

It took everything I had in me as I found out a friend had died just moments before I went.

I’m not a robot and there is a hole in the pit of my stomach this morning.

Sorry about the rambling. One week from today, I turn 43-years-old and I feel every bit of it this morning.

And we move forward.

From the mind of Rob Tornoe

So I wake up to George Bush talking about the Wall Street bailout bill this morning and my first thought was that dude looked tired.

He wasn’t his smug self as usual and he looked like he hadn’t slept in a week.

We, as a nation, are tired as well.

I haven’t read all 100 pages of the bill which should hit the House today and the Senate on Wednesday but I have hit the highlights of it.

As just your average Joe, I can’t understand how we got into this mess although the signs were all there. In Hoots, we’ve already been hit. Cooperative farming plans have been discussed, issues of unemployment have been a reality and I keep mentioning Martin Manufacturing (which is owned by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway. Yes I called him. He didn’t call back. I wasn’t surprised.) Everything, no matter where you live in this world, is connected. A town in the county of Hoots which was one of the largest suppliers of clay in the world is barely keeping it’s head above water.

Times are tough.

And, I’m no economist. I know if I have $10, I don’t need to spend $12. Call me crazy.

Oh, and electricity/gas rates are up. I talked to the local police chief a few weeks ago and his officers are adjusting to what he called “Crimes of Necessity.” This is all new to us.

Several people I know here have lost some dough-re-mi in the markets this past couple of weeks. Nest eggs that would protect them as they got older. T. Boone Pickens personally lost $300 million as well, but he’s not going to have to rethink his retirement, his kid’s college education and that hard-earned savings were lost. It’s relative as well. I’m not picking on Pickens, but you know what I’m saying.

They (the big they) say there will be oversights on this bill with two different committees but I want more. I want assurances that the CEOs who lived greedily will not benefit from outrageous bonuses. I want transparency on this.

I had a conversation about 9/11 with some folks the other day as I’m wont to do. Remember when the terrorist attacks happened and the cable newsers talked about how Osama Bin Laden wanted to bring down the financial systems in our country? Curious, but our nation’s leaders were hot and heavy about Saddam Hussien.

I have no opinion on this other than it was the topic of a conversation. Something folks were talking about in a rural community about how recent history and their futures are intertwined.

Today will go on like any other day. I will go to work, covering two press conferences today. I will do my regular duties. I will chit-chat with people at the office. We will mention the Wall Street bill, I have no doubt.

And we will wait, because, as much as I hate to admit it, we have no damn choice.

I’m sorry but it’s just uncanny.

H/T My Confined Space

1. Corey Smith At Soybean Festival, 2. Stephanie, 3. Titanman, 4. Roy Herron and Mark Maddox, 5. Bigfoot, 6. Skeleton in the bathroom, 7. End of The Alley, 8. Mabel Political Scandal, 9. Skeleton Swimming, 10. Kirby, The Blind Dog, 11. Newscoma And Mabel, 12. Divers and Mabel, 13. Horses In A Bar, 14. Happy Cow and the Monster Caravan, 15. Apprehensive Me, 16. Mark Maddox

From Galaxie Carol who had these questions to answer:

1. What is your first name? (Trace)

2. What is your favorite food? (Anything with Crawfish in it)

3. What high school did you attend? (Too long ago to remember)

4. What is your favorite color? (black)

5. Who is your celebrity crush? (James Marsters)

6. Favorite drink? (Beer)

7. Dream vacation? (Mayan Ruins)

8. Favorite dessert? (chocolate cake)

9. What do you want to be when you grow up? (Blog Jockey)

10. What do you love most in life? (Learning new things)

11. One word to describe you? (Loud)

12. Your Flickr name? (newscoma)

Let’s start with this:

In a letter that will be sent to Pelosi and Boehner, the Blue Dogs, led in this case by Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.), are calling for a future tax to be imposed on financial services companies if taxpayers lose money on the bailout package.

Tanner pitched the idea at a Blue Dog meeting on Wednesday, and again at a House Democrat Caucus on Thursday. Tanner is circulating a draft letter to Pelosi, Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). The proposal will only become an official Blue Dog policy position if two-thirds of the group supports it, a threshold that hasn’t been reached yet.

Tanner and other Blue Dogs see this provision as an “insurance policy” for taxpayers, and it would amount to a 2 percent “fee” on taxable income of financial services firms.

“Prudent investors protect themselves when making high-risk investments. The taxpayer is essentially being asked to make a high-risk investment to provide much needed liquidity to the financial markets. As stewards of the taxpayer’s money, we should insure against any potential losses that might result from this action. For these reasons, we feel it is imperative Congress include a recoupment clause in TARP [Troubled Assets Relief Policy],” the Blue Dogs said in a draft letter to Pelosi, Boehner and Senate leaders. TARP is the formal name of the Wall Street bailout package.

I have to give a hat tip to Jon for this one, who writes this:

The Blue Dogs are really good to have around on an issue like this, and I might even say they’re the ideal people to look to here for leadership — representatives of the conservative taxpayer who nonetheless recognize that doing nothing isn’t an option, and aren’t inflexibly bound by a rigid dogma that retards their ideas.

Jon and I agree that this really is the only time we agree with the Blue Dogs philosophy because on how they vote on other issues.

We are going to bail out Wall Street. There isn’t any getting around it although the thought that this is happening on my version of Main Street, we will be doing it anyway. People are hurting everywhere and if one, and I mean, ONE, Wall Street exec gets a bonus for bad behavior, the local sheriff is just going to have to come and get me as I will be stopping traffic in the road.

With that said, I want oversights. I don’t want blank checks. And I want the little guys to be recognized.

I have to be accountable with the bank. So should the government and Wall Street.

I’m watching this right now on Chiller but I have to say that “Them!” may just have the greatest Sci Fi trailer in the history of motion pictures.

Dear Coach,

May I call you coach?

I only have one thing to say to the Vols today. I realize I’m an almost 43-year-old woman but do I need to come in and play center for you? I offer my services.

Oh, and first downs are kind of important during crunch times.

KTHANXBAI,

Newscoma

Listen to me carefully, I have the mouth of a sailor and I own it. I’m not judging John McCain here in the least.

But, of course, it’s still worth taking a look at. If he said the slang for horse feces, I have no problem with it.

It just amuses me. So the question is, although it makes no difference to me either way, did he or did he not say it?

I went to a local Democratic rally last night (we went to the Republican one too) for the job but also because I wanted to see what was going on.

There were several speakers including Rep. Mark Maddox, Sen. Roy Herron, a 92-year-old democrat named Willard and a few other people.

Now, if you know Roy Herron, he’s usually smiling. He’s been a politician a long time and he knows how to work a room. He came through the door a little late, having been to a visitation for Brad Thompson’s father (Brad is the field director for Congressman John Tanner) and he sat at the back of the room.

He wasn’t smiling.

Herron is a big talker but when he took the podium last night, he was somber.

He talked of his district. He told a very quiet crowd that Perry County has 20 percent unemployment. There are no manufacturing jobs left in Lake County and the only things keeping the county afloat are a couple of prisons and Reelfoot Lake. With Martin Manufacturing closing it’s doors in Weakley County next month the unemployment rate will go from 11 percent to 13 percent. Other plants aren’t getting “tickets” for jobs which basically means that if there is no work, that jobs will be lost.

“I’m going to tell you now,” he said quietly. “We’ve already fallen into tough times. In seven and a half years, we’ve gone from the largest surplus in American history to the largest debt.”

The room was silent.

“Do you want to know what our leading exports in my district are?” Herron said. “Jobs and young people. It’s later than you think.”

You see, I’ve know Herron a long time. He’s never this way and I saw weight on his shoulders. I’m usually a bit critical of him, but last night, I observed him not giving the same old rhetoric or as SQ said “Pumping up the band” which usually happens at these kind of events.

I saw Sen. Lowe Finney a bit later quite by accident (he was in town for a wedding) and told him about Herron’s somber speech. I also told him I thought we were in trouble not only in Hoots but in West Tennessee. We talked about it for a few minutes.

It’s a bit scary.

There will be people to argue some of the points Herron made and that I’m reporting to you here on this blog. Unemployment is rampant here. It just is.

I need to say, we are living this.

Times are tough all over. And it’s getting worse.