August Mission Stories
Delaware State News:
Intrusion shuts down Kent County’s network
For more than a month, mystery
surrounded an intrusion which shut down Kent
County government’s network.
On August 23, reporter Craig
Anderson learned more about what happened and what the county has been doing
since.
According to Kent’s information
technology director Joseph Simmons, a BlackCat virus had erased everything on
the county’s network.
“What they do is come in and
attack your servers and encrypt everything and then delete certain control
files,” he explained. “Let me put it like this: They come in and basically
blank out your brain.”
Not only was there a loss of
access for Kent Countians to services, there was a huge cost to restore
operations: $419,240.
Salisbury Independent:
Mayor’s departure headlines election coverage
A flurry of activity occurred on
candidate filing deadline day Aug. 22 in Salisbury, and Salisbury Independent
was there to sort out and report on the last-minutes entries and withdrawals.
In a surprise move, the city’s
incumbent mayor announced his departure from the race, clearing the way for
three divergent contenders headed into the fall. The newspaper’s coverage also
included pertinent details on the five City Council races.
The extensive filing day coverage
will position the newspaper as the go-to source for all election news through
November.
Dorchester Banner:
Empowerment Center offers good news
In August, reporter Debra Messick
delivered a charming and encouraging story on the Cambridge
Empowerment Center, the Pine Street neighborhood’s community hub.
This summer, the center has
welcomed a full roster of 45 area youngsters, many participating in the Pine
Street Enrichment Program, which is fully licensed by the state of Maryland.
Readers and participants reacted
positively to Messick’s story, which told of the array of kid-friendly weekly
themes, with subjects like arts and crafts; land, air and water creatures;
careers; food around the world; music, dance and drama; STEM; and sports and
physical movement.
Crisfield-Somerset County
Times: Correctional officer memorialized
The memory of a correctional
officer murdered by a former inmate in a case that went unsolved for nearly 20
years will not be forgotten as a sign dedicated to the late Gregory
G. Collins was unveiled by his family on Ocean Highway near where he worked
at Eastern Correctional Institution.
The Crisfield-Somerset County
Times reported on the emotional service in early August.
“This is a very bittersweet
moment, (and) a long time coming,” said former Assistant Warden Ronnie Dryden.
“Twenty-two years now, and 18 years as a cold case, I cannot imagine what the
family went through.”
