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Monday, June 23, 2008

Back from the Katy Trail

As you can see, the Missouri River keeps on rolling along -- albeit a bit higher than normal -- along the Katy Trail.

Yes, I did ride the Katy Trail last week. I hope to have the full article up on the Web site later this week, but here's a brief summary.

In some ways, it was the kind of ride where everything that could go wrong did. For example, I wasn't happy to find out that when I got to Hermann, Mo., last Monday that I had left my towel and comb at home. Ugh.

At our final camping spot in Liberty Park in Sedalia, a heavy thunderstorm blew through town and knocked down my tent, drenching everything in it.

And yet, it was a rewarding ride. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources does a first-rate job of supporting cyclists, and it's hard to top the Katy Trail for scenery in this part of the world. The bluffs near Augusta and Rocheport are very scenic, but I also found the rolling plains between Sedalia and Clinton rewarding as well.

Flooding on the Missouri River did force a couple of detours, as I expected, but the flooding on the Missouri is nothing like the flooding on the Mississippi right now.

I really didn't have the opportunity to find Internet access during the trip, and that was a blessing in disguise. I found I really needed to take a break from the Internet, e-mail and blogging. I spent way too much time on this computer this spring because of organizing work I did for the Tour de Stooges and The Gerry Frierdich Road to Recovery Bicycle Ride, and it was great to spend time on a bike!

My mountain bike made it through the trail OK, although I probably would have been happier on a lighter hybrid or at least with less-aggressive mountain bike tires on the crushed limestone surface on the Katy Trail. I do now have a name for my mountain bike, a Raleigh -- Behemoth!

Another reason I was glad I didn't access e-mail or the Internet last week was because the parent company of the Belleville News-Democrat, McClatchy Newspapers, announced that it was eliminating 1,400 jobs nationwide through layoffs, voluntary departures and attrition. The News-Democrat will be cutting 12 jobs. I am grateful none of them are in our newsroom, but I feel for those who will lose jobs in other departments.

It is discomforting when you think about the troubled state of the newspaper industry. Recently, fellow bicycle blogger and journalist Jill Homer reported in her Up in Alaska blog that her newspaper in Juneau, Alaska, is indefinitely cutting retirement benefits.

Yes, a week away from reality did do me a lot of good!
Labels: bicycling, Katy Trail, Missouri, newspapers, tours

Roger 1 comments links to this post 11:51 AM

Sunday, February 24, 2008

My 'baby' sister in the news

About a week and a half ago, I gave kudos to my older sister, Teresa Parod, for her new Web site featuring her artwork. Now it's time to give some props to my younger sister, Karen Brooks.

Karen's picture was on the front page of Sunday's edition of The (Alton, Ill.) Telegraph. Photographer Jim Bowling caught my sister in the act of tying balloons to hand out to visitors on Saturday afternoon for the Toddle Towne Learning Centers 20th-year reunion on Humbert Road in Alton. Karen has been a nursery teacher at Toddle Towne for 14 years.

Anyone who can put up with preschoolers eight hours a day for 14 years deserves a lot of credit in my book!

It's the second time that Jim has taken a photo of someone in my immediate family, and it's the second time the photo was on Page One. Back in 2005, my mom, Jean Kramer, attended an event honoring Charley Kevilus, an Alton man who has cerebral palsy, but makes a living collecting aluminum cans in the Alton area. Both my mom and Karen, collect cans for his business.

Even though I'm a hardened veteran of the newspaper business -- I can take it or leave it if my name's in the paper -- I still get excited when someone in my family makes the paper.
Way to go!
Labels: family, newspapers

Roger 0 comments links to this post 12:43 PM

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Belleville dog is Numero Uno

The world's second-most famous beagle -- sorry, Snoopy remains No. 1 -- was bred and born right here in Belleville, Ill.

Tuesday night, Uno won Best of Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York.

"We knew from the very beginning that he is a special one," Uno's breeder and owner, Kathy Weichert of Belleville, told the Belleville News-Democrat before the win. Weichert owns K-Run Kennels in Belleville. "He is the kind of dog every breeder dreams of producing. There is no other way to put it. He is what you strive for."

The Page A1 I designed for the News-Democrat was a bit of a headache because the award wasn't given until about 10 p.m. CST Tuesday. I'm supposed to have our first edition Page A1 out by 11:30 p.m. Plenty of time, right?

Not really.

We had one picture taken Monday already in the slot, but I was hoping for a photo from that evening to put in there. The photos from The Associated Press didn't start trickling in until about 10:15. I had picked one of Uno howling after his victory, but I was hoping for something better.

The photo we ended up using came about 10:40, but there were a few problems. One, the original photo was a horizontal photo, and the photo had to be a vertical because I had no time to do a completely new layout. Two, Uno's genitalia were clearly showing. Three, Uno's handler had one of his hands very close to Uno's crotch.

I took a few moments to crop the photo to what I needed and rushed it to our pre-press department for toning to make sure it reproduces correctly on our printing press. Many thanks to Jill Beiter for taking the late photo and working so quickly to get it right.

It took a few more minutes to make final crops to the photos and cuts to the stories to make everything fit. It was 11:05 p.m. before I could print proofs for my copy desk colleagues for our last chance to catch mistakes before they go to print. There were other deadline pages that also needed to be proofed, so I did let go of the page until 11:34, four minutes late.

After deadline, several of us had a late drink at the Blue Agave club in downtown Belleville. One of my colleagues, Dale Parker, seemed really excited about the beagle's victory.

"They ought to put a statue of the beagle on the Public Square!" Dale exclaimed. "They should have a parade for the beagle!"

Given that it doesn't take much for Belleville to have a parade and that they're well-attended by the public -- people chain lawnchairs to sign posts more than seven hours in advance of the city's annual Shrine Circus Parade in June -- I would not be surprised to see Uno atop a Belleville firetruck cruising down Main Street.
Labels: Belleville, dogs, newspapers

Roger 0 comments links to this post 10:24 PM

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Post-Dispatch Tour of Missouri preview

Today's edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has an eight-page special section about the Tour of Missouri.

As an employee of the Belleville News-Democrat, it's not every day that I recommend that you buy a competing newspaper, but you really should if you're a cycling fan.

You can get most of the information in the special section online, but the print edition of the guide is well-designed and packed with lots of good information, maps and photos. It'll be handy to have around as you follow the race.

Other Missouri newspapers also had stories about the Tour of Missouri today. These included
(Springfield) News-Leader
(Jefferson City) News-Tribune
Kansas City Star
Labels: Missouri, newspapers, St. Louis, Tour of Missouri

Roger 0 comments links to this post 10:41 AM