As coronavirus cases rise at Peoria Unified School District
and as more students are going into quarantine, officials are updating the
district’s COVID-19 strategy, to include laptops to all students who need them
and an updated virtual instruction time model. There have been more than 430
cases and 1,400 students recommended for quarantine since the first day of
school on Aug. 4. The story tells what the district is doing to fight spread of
the virus.
Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Peoria Mission stories September
Thursday, September 16, 2021
Night Life
Difference makers impact communities at all hours of the day or
night. A shout-out to those too often overlooked who keep cities running during
the overnights.
|
Night Life: While everyone
else sleeps, graveyard workers keep Glendale running Residents rest for
the busy pace ahead when routines will fuel the day’s energy. The population
takes a break from bouncing off each other in the familiar frenzy that
arrives when the sun comes up. There’s a select few, however, who find
themselves in go-mode during the overnights. The graveyard shifts. |
Stars of Delaware
The Delaware State Newshound poses with staff from Sayers
Jewelers and Gemologist at the 2021 Stars of Delaware event.
Stars of Delaware contest celebrates stellar community
By Laura Walter
Special Projects Editor
When it comes to choosing a favorite restaurant, barber,
cardiologist, homebuilder, tattoo parlor, music teacher — or practically
anything else, the public has spoken! The results of the 2021 Stars of Delaware
readers’ poll were announced on Sept. 2 at a gala event at the Delaware State
Fairgrounds.
Monday, September 6, 2021
Peoria Mission Story - August 2021
This Peoria mission story covers a localized look at the
city’s top government salary earners. The story is a part of a Valley wide
series looking at this issue.
Thursday, September 2, 2021
Mission Story (August): Crisfield-Somerset County Times
The authority of Crisfield Police to act as agents of the Crisfield Housing Authority to make arrests for trespassing was challenged by a defense attorney on behalf of a client who was later found to be in possession of a handgun and narcotics. The suspect continues to be held without bond on felony drug trafficking charges.
PRINCESS
ANNE — An apprehension for trespassing at the Crisfield Housing Authority that
resulted in police finding a handgun and alleged controlled dangerous
substances on the suspect was considered a legitimate police action but it was “a
close call.”
That was the ruling of Somerset County Circuit Court Judge
Daniel W. Powell who acknowledged he may be wrong but arguments in the case
against Devon L. Cannon left him to conclude that Cannon had prior notice to
stay out of Somers Cove and that Crisfield Police Capt. Lonnie Luedtke “acted
in good faith” to proceed with an arrest.
Cannon, 26, is being held without bond on several charges
including felony possession of a firearm while drug trafficking. On Jan. 5, he
was spotted off Charlotte Avenue inside the boundaries of the public housing
authority. He was initially placed under arrest for trespassing with illegal
items revealed after he was searched.
Cannon had been warned about trespassing by Capt. Luedtke
on Sept. 1, 2020 and was given a copy of the ticket which included the
statement that a person can be criminally charged if it occurs again.
There has been a memorandum of understanding between the
CPD and Crisfield Housing Authority (CHA) as far back as 1998 to grant city
police the authority to act as agents of the CHA to enforce loitering and
trespassing on its property. But the defense argued former agreements had
sunset and the MOU in force today was not signed by the two parties until Feb.
1, 2021 — one month after Cannon’s January arrest.
Based on prior case law submitted by the state,
individuals who are arrested or convicted of a crime can be placed on a housing
authority’s trespass list. “The question then becomes,” Judge Powell said, do
police “have the ability to stand in the shoes of the owner.”
Judge Powell said he took into account testimony from the
Aug. 9 motions hearing and written arguments from both State’s Attorney Wess
Garner and defense attorney David Moore. He also looked at the circumstances of
the arrest.
“Here, it’s clear the owner gave agency to the Crisfield
Police Department in 1998,” and police were acting in good faith up to the
point the written MOU was updated. That initial memorandum, “then verbally
continued by the parties, I believe was done in good faith by the police
department,” the judge said, adding that a verbal agreement gave police the
continued belief that their authority had not lapsed.
Judge Powell added that “proper notice was given to Mr.
Cannon” back in November 2020 of the consequences if he was caught on the
property again.
The drug trafficking case is scheduled for trial on Oct.
19. Two other trespassing cases appealed from District Court which hinged on
the judge’s Aug. 23 ruling are set for trial on Sept. 7. They related to a
charge that Cannon was on CHA property on Dec. 12 and Dec. 20, 2020.
Defense attorney Moore was uncertain if he would be ready
for trial as he will consider appealing Judge Powell’s ruling. One thing he
asked to be considered is that his client testified that he was pressured to
sign the citation in November 2020 or risk being arrested.
“There were excellent arguments from both parties, and it
was a close call,” Judge Powell said. “I may or may not be right,” and its
possible the Court of Special Appeals “will tell me if I am right or not.”
“I know this is not what Mr. Cannon was hoping for today.”
According to charging documents the .38 caliber revolver
found on Cannon had been reported stolen by police in San Bernardino, Calif.,
but there were no live rounds or ammunition recovered. The CDS was described as
suspected crack cocaine.
Mission Story (August): Delaware State News
The Delaware State News participated this summer in the first-ever Delaware Community Foundation internship program to develop college journalists and enhance coverage of BIPOC communities. The program was funded by the COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund, so interns were paid for their eight-week assignments in newsrooms around the state. Work was shared among the media outlets throughout the eight weeks and interns worked to an end goal of producing a package of stories that dove into the pandemic’s impact on the Latino community in southern Delaware. The participating news outlets were Delaware Public Media, Delaware State News, El Tiempo Hispano, Hoy en Delaware, The News Journal/DelawareOnline, Technical.ly Delaware and WHYY.
The DCF project came to fruition with a four-part look at the impact of COVID-19 on the Latino community in southern Delaware, published online and in print Aug. 29 through Sept. 1. Strong photos enhanced this package for us. Stories highlighted impacts on students spending their summer catching up from remote learning environments, ESL teachers striving to meet demand for classes in a pandemic, businesses working to recover from government shutdowns and changes needed to increase healthcare access and demands. The foundation was able to provide half of the stories translated in Spanish and those versions were published on BaytoBayNews.com.
While the internship was a learning experience for all involved, it fulfilled our mission of community building, both for the interns and our readers. Longtime journalist Larry Nagengast served as mentor for the group and he applauded our use of the stories in an email this week: “A DCF intern finishes her summer with her first front-page story. Not bad for someone focused on broadcasting. Another good example of collaboration.” https://baytobaynews.com/sussex/stories/covid-19-prompts-fresh-look-at-latinx-healthcare-needs-in-delaware,56886
Interns came to the program with varied media experience, from working on their college radio stations to print and digital newspapers. Only one spoke Spanish fluently. In addition to the final series, we published the interns’ stories throughout the summer. Our intern was Xiomara Moore, a Magnolia resident studying at the University of Delaware. She was able to cover a variety of stories over her time here, from visiting the state fair to see how vaccinations were being delivered to underserved communities to highlighting the work of the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice and explaining the work of Capital School District to close achievement gaps through summer programs.
In print, we featured every story in the final project on the front page with an editor’s note inside explaining the series and teasing the next story. On the web, each story carried a featured tag so it displayed prominently on the home and county pages.
The
DCF stories can be found here:
https://baytobaynews.com/search_mode/keyword/browse.html?search_filter=DCF%20Project
Mission Story (August): Dorchester Banner
Few recent issues have grabbed the public’s attention as
much as that of masks in schools, and Dorchester County is no exception. The
Board of Education’s monthly meeting featured impassioned comments from
the public and a deferred decision from the Board [“Dorchester Board defers
mask decision,” published online August 21, in print August 25] – we suspect
they knew which way the wind was blowing at the state level and didn’t want to
incur parents’ wrath if they didn’t have to.
The local Board, in an interesting bit of logic which we
noted in our story, restricted access to the meeting to 10 people at a time out
of concern for COVID-19 transmission, as they discussed getting children back
in classrooms, with or without masks.
In the public comment portion of the meeting, we heard from
parents, political and religious figures, all of whom offered strong views. By
referring to the Board’s recorded livestream, we were able to quote everyone
accurately, including names and titles. The story gave our readers access to
various points of view, helping folks to come to their own decisions.
We followed that with a column by Stephen Rideout,
[“Dorchester schools: Mask-no mask or some other solution,” August 24]. Mr.
Rideout has a unique perspective of his own, being a retired judge and
Cambridge City Council member. He pointed out pertinent legal aspects of the
issue, including probably the most germane, that the government has the right
to require health care for children.
This was one issue where we used our online capability to
get information to our readers quickly and in great detail. Mr. Rideout’s
comments went right on the websites of the Banner and other publications, not
only for the sake of timeliness, but also because this commentary, though well
composed, was very long and realistically, could not have been printed.
To wrap things up, as least as far as masks are concerned,
we covered the Maryland State Board of Education’s meeting, at which the
members voted 13-1 to require masks in schools [“Maryland State Board of Ed:
Masks required in schools,” August 26]. These items appeared online and in
print in the days leading up the schools’ opening on Aug. 30, giving families
time to learn about issues of great personal interest and concern.
Link to County Board story: https://baytobaynews.com/stories/dorchester-board-of-ed-defers-mask-decision,56363
Link to Rideout column: https://baytobaynews.com/stories/dorchester-schools-mask-no-mask-or-some-other-solution,56553
Link to State Board story: https://dorchesterbanner-md.newsmemory.com/
Mission Story (August): Salisbury Independent
In August, when Covid-19 cases resumed spiking in the
community, it was obvious a new message needed to be sent regarding vaccines
and transmissions. Salisbury Independent reached out to the region’s top health
care official, TidalHealth CEO Dr. Steve Leonard, for a direct-to-reader
one-on-one interview. Leonard discussed in detail how significant the crisis
had become, while offering firm yet sensitive direction on what the public
should do in terms of receiving vaccines and stopping the spread. Leonard
talked about how vaccine intake was proving an asset to those who did contract
the Delta Variant and encourage acceptance of booster shots. He also discussed
at length the morale of health care workers and the impacts on his two large
hospital centers. The story was bannered in print and online; it received
strong feedback and public accolades for being an accessible piece of news
reporting.
https://baytobaynews.com/wicomico/stories/tidalhealth-ceo-addresses-rising-covid-19-numbers,56589
Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Mission Story - Apache Junction Independent
The Superstition Fire and Medical District Governing Board met several times in closed-door executive sessions to discuss matters concerning a “pending White personnel matter” and “related Office of Administrative Hearing matter relating thereto” according to meeting agendas.
Minutes of those meetings are not public records.
The Arizona Office of Administrative Hearings has public records and from there Richard Dyer, news editor of the Apache Junction/Gold Canyon Independent, found an audio recording between two attorneys and a judge that mentioned two claims pending with the Arizona Civil Rights Division.
Dyer sent public records requests to the Superstition Fire and Medical District, Arizona Attorney General’s Office and Arizona Office of Administrative Hearings to gather information.
Brian White, who until earlier this year was a battalion chief, was fired as of March 13, and is appealing the termination. He had worked for the fire district for more than 24 years.
Hearings in the case of White vs. SFMD before the Arizona Office of Administrative Hearings are slated Sept. 20-24.
Florida Mission Stories - August 2021
COVID-19
Pandemic coverage continues
As the COVID-19 pandemic again surges in Florida, the INI
Florida newspapers and website have worked hard to keep readers updated on
current cases, vaccination sites and testing sites.
As Florida schools reopened, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an
executive order forbidding school districts to require students wear face
masks. Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases among school children quickly multiplied. The
INI Florida papers keep readers updated on the latest numbers of students and
teachers with covid, and the numbers excluded from in-person education due to
possible exposure to someone who is covid-positive. We’ve also helped explained
the rules the schools must follow when a student tests positive or is exposed.
https://www.southcentralfloridalife.com/stories/okeechobee-county-schools-covid-19-update,22799
We strive to cover all angles in the pandemic. Reporter
Cathy Womble recently interviewed a funeral home director who explained about
half of the funerals are now for covid deaths.
https://www.southcentralfloridalife.com/stories/tomorrow-is-not-promised,22852
In some cases, stories are “don’t do this!” We heard from
sources at local feed stores they were selling out of a product used to treat
horses for parasites and found people following bad online information were
taking the product meant for livestock, in some cases winding up in the
hospital with a toxic overdose.
The Lake Okeechobee News is well known for coverage of it’s
title location. In August, management of the Big O was in the news as the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers worked on a new lake management plan. Farmers south of
the lake claim the corps is violating federal law and endangering the water
supply for millions of people.
Our coverage also included plenty of space for comments from
community leaders.