I appreciate the calls and questions we’ve received about the Court Docket. You may have noticed that we have stopped printing court news.
It’s temporary, I promise.
We have been short-handed since Glen Werling left a few weeks ago which forced us to make a few tough decisions in the short term.
Glen had been the primary writer of court and police news for as long as I’ve been around. He took a lot of pride in compiling all of those reports and refining them into something easily digestable. His work was more than just a pleasure to read, it was an art form of sorts.
We hear as many comments about the Police Notebook and Court Docket as we do on any other regular feature we publish. The comments are mostly complimentary, but not always. We’ve angered more than a few people over the years.
Someone once told me their goal was to keep their name off of page three — where obituaries, police and court news generally live.
I concur with that policy.
We do have special consideration when it comes to News-Banner employees, however.
I was in a head-on collision years ago driving south through the Main and Dustman intersections. Coincidentally that is the most dangerous intersection in Bluffton.
My car was totalled and I was transported to BRMC via ambulance. While being treated in the ER, I was asked politely if my name would make the Police Notebook. Of course it would I replied.
The officer of record that morning was at the end of his shift when the accident occurred. That meant his report would be filed the next day. We were, however, determined to make sure my information was in the next day’s edition. Glen worked some magic along with cooperation from the Bluffton Police Department to be sure we accomplished the goal.
Nothing would look worse than my information not being published in a timely manner, even if circumstances naturally delayed the details for a single day.
That’s the special consideration.
Luckily I’ve managed to stay off page three since then.
To everyone who has reached out about the lack of court news, we understand your frustration.
We also thank you for your understanding.
Police and court news are an important part of this newspaper. We understand the importance and are working to publishing court news as soon as possible.
dougb@news-banner.com
