Where’s Ronny?

Sports writer Steve Bergum “parachuted” into the Bay Area yesterday to cover Ronny Turiaf’s heart surgery, but wasn’t able to file a story until 10:38 p.m. - just seven minutes before the Idaho edition deadline. Page One stories are typically read by at least three different editors before going to print, so getting the story into Idaho editions would have meant either holding up the production process or rushing the story onto the page, neither of which are particularly desirable options. However, we’re revisiting the process to see what could have been done to get the story into the Idaho section.

Another omission

Some readers may wonder why there was no mention in today’s paper of the Boy Scout Leaders who were killed in Virginia. Human error is the explanation in this case - more specifically, my human error. I was pulling a double-shift to fill a gap in the night desk schedule, saw the story, had every intention of running it, and forgot to put it in the paper. That’s all there is to it…

Shake it up

Did the 5.6 earthquake in Montana last night deserve better play? Steve Smith, who had books fall off of the shelves of his home, thought so. Editors who didn’t feel the quake were more ambivalent.

Coming up

Ronny Turiaf went into surgery about 7 a.m., and the operation is expected to take six hours, so watch for an update sometime this afternoon. Also, we’re keeping an eye on the wildfire in Wenatchee and will make a determination later today whether we should cover it ourselves our rely on wire dispatches.