Tuesday catch-up

It was a busy Monday behind the scenes with the online unit and we ran out of time to post yesterday, so some belated kudos are due.

Friday night’s late tip to reporter Tom Clouse, which was the biggest news of the Saturday paper, was regarding a plea agreement in the DeLeon trial out of Colville. The newspaper was set to run a package of stories on Sunday in advance of the trial. The resolution of the case continues to spark response.

The weekend papers were marked by wall-to-wall Harry Potter coverage, prompting Features Editor Ken Paulman to promise his section doesn’t plan anything more before this weekend’s release of the final book. For those who haven’t caught Potter Fever, it’s probably a welcome relief.

Also on the “soft” news front:
-the Sunday paper was headed by the print story (by Sara Leaming) and online video (by Dan Pelle) about a local drum and bugle corps;

-Doug Clark had a tongue-in-cheek look at some “mysterious” crop circles outside of Wilbur, Wash.; and

-Outdoors Editor Rich Landers recounted his recent Alaskan trip of abundant bounty.

So much for “negativity” in the newspaper (see Editor Steve Smith’s blog entry on that topic).

On a more hard-hitting front were:

-a package on global warming and local storm coverage; and

-law enforcement’s crackdown on problems with rafters on the north fork of the Coeur d’Alene River. Smith suggested a follow-up on the final number of arrests by the Shoshone County sheriff’s office.