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Teens face changes in law governing cell phone use

May 26th, 2009, 2:30 pm by davis

Starting July 1, teens will no longer be allowed to talk, text or shoot video with their cell phones while they drive.

That’s according to a new state law.

Other provisions of the law that won’t go into effect for another year govern the licensing of teen drivers.

Check out staff writer Jill Treadway’s story in Wednesday’s edition of The Tribune and online at TribTown.com.

She talks with teens as well as an insurer about the changes coming up for teen drivers.

Local law enforcement officers wonder why the law only bars teens from texting while driving.

Thanks for reading by blog, and thanks for logging on to Tribtown.com.

Posted in: community • police | Post a Comment »

Paying respects on Memorial Day

May 25th, 2009, 2:47 pm by davis

They were a determined bunch. Smaller in number this year, perhaps because of the stead rain falling Monday morning.

But rain perhaps also made them all the more determined.

They were men and women, young and old. There were even some boys and girls.

Some were sheltered by umbrellas. Some weren’t.

Rain or shine, though, they were determine to pay their respects to the men and women of the armed forces, those who were killed in action and those serving today at home and around the world.

You can read staff writer January Wetzel’s story and see her photos from the Memorial Day service at Riverview Cemetery in Seymour in Tuesday’s edition of The Tribune and online at TribTown.com.

Thanks for reading my blog, and thanks for logging on to TribTown.com.

Posted in: community • veterans | Post a Comment »

Miss America Katie Stam, Helio and Indy 500 fans

May 24th, 2009, 9:29 pm by davis

Check out stories about Miss America Katie Stam helping kick off Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 and Helio Castroneves’ third 500 win in Monday’s edition of The Tribune and online at TribTown.com.

You can also check out a story that reports Indy 500 fans tightened their belts when it came to spending their cash this spring.

Thanks for reading my blog, and thanks for logging on to TribTown.com.

Posted in: Indy 500 • Miss America Katie Stam • economy | Post a Comment »

Day of Caring arrives

May 12th, 2009, 6:14 am by davis

Jackson County United Way’s Day of Caring has arrived.

But it’s more than a matter to just one day.

For months organizers and their volunteers have been planning for this day of work throughout the community.

Brian Hardy of Seymour has been the leader behind Day of Caring for what seems forever now.

He and his crew deserve a big thanks from the community for their efforts to make life a little better here in Jackson County.

We’ll report on today’s efforts in Wednesday’s edition of The Tribune and online at TribTown.com.

Thanks for reading my blog, and thanks for logging on to TribTown.com.

Posted in: community | Post a Comment »

A flu by any other name

April 29th, 2009, 2:34 pm by davis

Pork prices plummeted this week, or at least in the futures market for May.

That’s among reasons why Hoosier pork producers are happy to hear that government officials are now using the name “Influenza A (H1N1)/North American/Human” flu for what had been reported first as “swine flu.”

I’m not so sure “Influenza A (H1N1)/North American/Human” is going to fit into too many newspaper headlines, and so far the folks on TV seem to be sticking with “swine flu.”

We’ll report in Thursday’s edition of The Tribune and online at TribTown.com about how local pork producers and local health and emergency management officials are dealing with the flu outbreak.

Thanks for reading my blog, and thanks for logging on to TribTown.com.

Posted in: agriculture • community • flu | Post a Comment »

This little piggy has world watching

April 27th, 2009, 1:31 pm by davis

The swine flu outbreak certainly has grabbed the attention of folks.

It was the lead story in today’s edition of The Tribune, a story that first appeared online Sunday evening at TribTown.com.

We’ll follow up later tonight and in Tuesday’s edition of the newspaper with more on the story.

Reporter Jill Treadway reports that schools are putting their typical flu season routine in place — wash your hands, keep your sneezes to yourself and sanitize tables and desks.

We’ll report that Schneck Medical Center and Jackson County Department of Health report they’re taking steps to protect people as well.

Thanks for reading my blog, and thanks for logging on to TribTown.com.

Posted in: The Tribune • community • health | Post a Comment »

Find morels - and music - at Brown County State Park

April 16th, 2009, 11:04 am by davis

Although I can’t imagine an answer from anyone who’s eaten them being anything except “yes,” I’ll ask anyway.

Do you like sponge, or morel mushrooms?

I think they’re among the best things I’ve ever eaten, regardless of how they’ve been prepared.

We received a news release from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources today about Brown County State Park celebrating the delicacy with its third annual morel mushroom festival on May 2. The news release said the festival is one of the park’s most popular events. Makes sense to me, although I’ve never been. I’d also never heard of it before today I may try to make this year’s, however.

According to the press release, and a brief that will be in Friday’s edition of The Tribune and online at TribTown.com, the f”estival features guided hikes to find the elusive fungus, as well as music, an arts-and-crafts fair and children’s events. A cooking demonstration, a contest for the largest morel found in the park and a geocache hike also will be part activities”

Not quite sure what a geocache is, however.

Live Indiana birds of prey will be featured at 5 p.m., with local wildlife rehabilitation specialists from Return to the Wild. After that, local rock musicians Jack Morel and the Spores will perform.

If you’re not experienced at finding morels, you’re still covered — The Friends of Brown County State Park group will sell them at the park Nature Center, starting at 1 p.m. Proceeds benefit the park.

No fee is charged for this program; however, normal weekend gate admission fees of $5 per in-state vehicle and $7 per out-of-state vehicle will be required.

For information online, hit this hotlink: www.morelmushroomfestival.com .

Hunting muschrooms was something we always did when my siblings and I were kids. Pop would lead us deep into a woods in Owen County, where Grandma and Grandpa Troth lived, although it wasn’t their woods we traipsed through, generally on the last weekend of April and first weekend of May.

It was adventure we all looked forward, about as much as we looked forward to breakfast the next morning, when Mom or Grandma would fry the first batch for breakfast.

Thanks for reading my blog, and thanks for logging on to TribTown.com.

Posted in: Brown County State Park • Morel mushrooms • family | Post a Comment »

Indiana Wind Energy Week? Seems redundant with General Assembly in session

April 14th, 2009, 7:09 am by davis

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels declared this week Indiana Wind Energy Week. That seems redundant since the Indiana General Assembly is in session.

But seriously, the declaration followed an announcement from the American Wind Energy Association that Indiana is the fastest-growing state for wind energy installations in 2008. And that growth continues with groundbreaking events planned for two new wind farms this week in the state.

“We welcome the news that Indiana is the fastest-growing state for wind power energy,” Daniels said in a news release. “We’ve made homegrown clean energy production a priority, and we are proud to become a leader in new wind energy installations,”

Those groundbreaking ceremonies for wind energy projects totaling 306 megawatts are set for this week in Benton and White counties in northern Indiana.

Horizon Wind Energy plans to break ground on a 200 MW project in White County today, and enXco is beginning a 106 MW project in Benton County on Friday.

There are 130MW of commercially available wind energy installed in Indiana, according to the governor’s office.

That should boost upward to 836 MW by the end of 2009 as the two new projects and the 400 MW Fowler Ridge Wind Farm in Benton and Tippecanoe counties under development by BP Alternative Energy and Dominion Resources are completed.

That, the governor’s office said, would move Hoosier state past such traditional wind-producing states as South Dakota and Wyoming.

A copy of Daniels’ proclamation may be found through this link: http://www.in.gov/gov/files/Press/WindEnergyWeek.pdf

The announcement from the American Wind Energy Association may be found through this link: http://www.awea.org/

Now if we could just do something about harnessing the energy from all that hot air that comes out of the Statehouse.

Thanks for reading my blog, and thanks for logging on to Tribtown.com.

Posted in: community • family • going green | Post a Comment »

Miss America Katie Stam to visit fair

April 9th, 2009, 12:14 pm by davis

Our advertising director, Scott Embry, told me this afternoon that Miss America Katie Stam will visit this summer’s Jackson County Fair on July 27.

That word came from Don Cummings with the fair board, Scott said. They were working on preparing this summer’s fair program.

We’ll report more when find out more.

Thanks for reading my blog, and thanks for logging on to TribTown.com.

Posted in: Miss America Katie Stam • community • economy • fair • family | Post a Comment »

More vital than ever

April 9th, 2009, 12:01 pm by davis

I was asked at church last Sunday whether The Tribune was being sold.

“Well,” I said, “we’ve been sold a couple hundred times since I’ve been employed with the paper, but we never have been sold.”

No, we’re not being sold, and The Tribune hasn’t been sold since Freedom Communications of Santa Ana, Calif., bought it in 1973.

Does that mean we couldn’t be sold as I write this? Or Saturday? Or next week? Or next month?

No, it doesn’t.

But to be honest, I don’t think the market for newspapers is too hot right now.

Sadly, a number of newspapers have closed in this recession, a recession that our industry has been feeling for the past several years, partly as a result of the shift toward online sites as a source for information and advertising.

And several newspaper companies in recent months have filed for protection under U.S. bankruptcy laws.

Is our owner among them?

No.

And I hope it stays that way.

Yes, Freedom and The Tribune have been working through some tough times, just as other papers and other industries are struggling.

People are shouting that newspapers are losing their reach and their relevance. They shout that we should shut down newsrooms, stop killing trees and stop publishing our old rags.
Irrelevant? Hardly.

We may be selling fewer copies of The Tribune, just as The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune and the Palladium-Item in Richmond are selling fewer copies of their newspapers, but we remain the 800-pound gorilla in terms of readership in Jackson County.

Only more so.

That’s because in addition to the estimated 75 percent of 32,900 adults in Jackson County (24,675) reading hard copies of The Tribune on a daily basis, we’re also reaching thousands more through our Web site, TribTown.com.

In March, the news site saw 38,472 unique visitors, 126,604 visits and 710,428 page views.

Irrelevant? No, we don’t think so. Instead of weakening our relevance and importance, the Web has enhanced our reach and vitality. We can now report to readers almost instantaneously with words, photos and video.

People still trust newsrooms — or information centers, as the hip crowd prefers — to deliver them important, relevant local news. We continue to do that, and we expect to continue doing so for years to come.

Will we change? You bet. Will we stick around? Yep.

Thanks for reading my blog, and thanks for logging on to TribTown.com.

Posted in: The Tribune • community • media | Post a Comment »

Author Archive

Teens face changes in law governing cell phone use

Paying respects on Memorial Day

Miss America Katie Stam, Helio and Indy 500 fans

Day of Caring arrives

A flu by any other name

This little piggy has world watching

Find morels - and music - at Brown County State Park

Indiana Wind Energy Week? Seems redundant with General Assembly in session

Miss America Katie Stam to visit fair

More vital than ever

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