This issue concludes my third month as the News-Gazette’s editor. I’ve survived putting it together — and if you’re reading this then you’ve survived reading it.
Thank you for that, by the way.
I hope that we’re covering the stories you care the most about. You can’t spell “community newspaper” without “community,” and we’ve got a pretty special and diverse one here, with a lot of stories to tell that you won’t find elsewhere.
There’s stories, and there’s issues, and many of them deal with how our slice of society is living with and recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.
I’m committed to covering the issues properly. Stories do come out of press releases that come from organizations and government agencies, but it doesn’t take a lot of effort to go from a release to a fleshed-out story — the release shouldn’t be the story.
I’ve made it out to a few of our county’s meetings, and watched many more on live or newly-posted streams. It helps to cover their issues from a newspaper’s point of view, rather than the view they share with us, in a release.
I like to think this paper is back to being the community watchdog role the local media is supposed to fill. I like the facts. I like fair. As I’ve told more than one public or government official around here, “You didn’t get anything from me you didn’t deserve.”
That’s what powers a local newspaper. And energy creates power. (Or is it the other way around? My last science class was a long time ago, back when UCF played its football in downtown Orlando, and I think wore leather helmets.)
I have that energy, but only so much of it. I want to tell those stories of our community. And the more storytellers we have, the more stories we can tell. So if you come from a writing background and are getting the itch to tell those stories, I may have a freelance writing opening for you. Reach out at editor@osceolanewsgazette.com and we can get the conversation going.
One of those issues has been the special election to fill the seat of the dearly departed Chuck Cooper. It being the only race on the ballot of an off-year election could tamp down voter turnout, but I urge everyone to vote in next week’s election, either by mail or in person early or on Tuesday.
The seat is just one of five on the Council, and a third of the minimum needed to pass any ordinance it votes on.
St. Cloud residents, you are in luck. No matter who you select, either next week or in the Nov. 9 runoff, you will get a worthy candidate out of this five-way race, one that should work well with the current Council. It’s a shame we can’t take the best parts of each and shove them into one All-Star councilman.
Be it Phillip Lantry’s lifetime of local knowledge of how St. Cloud’s supposed to work, Victor Rivera’s position to help lend fresh ideas, Jose Martinez’s well-connected business sector acumen, Daniel Minckler’s past Council experience in another jurisdiction or Kolby Urban’s inner workings on city advisory committees, there’s something out there for everybody — and everybody’s vote.
So go use it.
