Thursday, March 25, 2010
Testing security
I would allow the reporter to test security if there was a reasonable suspicion that airport security was not adhering to TSA security standards, and, of course, there was no law saying one could not do that. I would also check into possibly having a marshall accompany the reporter, if I knew that that wouldn't blow their cover. People getting through security with box-cutters is newsworthy and it shows careless behaviors by security workers that puts others at risk. I would
Local festival director gears up for next event
PULLMAN - At the front desk in the Pullman Chamber of Commerce building, Mary MacDonald stands beside a couple who is considering moving to the city and explains to them what they can look forward to as residents. Talking to potential residents is not always one of her duties, however. MacDonald works as the director of the National Lentil Festival. With less than five months left until the event, MacDonald said planning for the 22nd Annual National Lentil Festival is already months underway.
“This is one of those festivals that lasts two days, but for me lasts more like ten months,” MacDonald said.
The Palouse native MacDonald has planned two previous festivals, both of which she said enter planning phases the October following the previous festival.
MacDonald’s planning efforts are not done alone. MacDonald heads a committee of 15 to 20 committee members each with specific responsibilities, including a cook-off chair, microbrewery chair and a Little Lentil King and Queen coordinator.
Previous to her appointment to the position, she said her serving on the US Dry Pea and Lentil Council in Moscow, paired with her experience as a fifth generation farmer and holder of leadership positions, helped prepare her for her current role.
Planning for MacDonald includes what she calls her near “three-inch-thick to-do list” and what she describes as “a lot of 18 hour days.”
For each of the two festivals she has organized, she said the most challenging aspects of the job come from recruiting enough volunteers, which she said often number an estimated 300 people.
MacDonald said the festival’s history shows how much it has changed.
The first festival was in 1989 and was originally held every two months until the festival committee decided a change was needed due to low turnouts, MacDonald said.
“It was great but really small and really mediocre,” MacDonald said. “Then we decided to put all our energy into one festival every year,” she said of the festival committee.
MacDonald said the idea of showcasing the lentil came from careful consideration of local agriculture and ultimately deciding on a crop not typically highlighted by a community.
“Nobody celebrates lentils because they don’t know what they are,” she said.
MacDonald said the uniqueness of creating a festival around lentils helped build more interest in it due to the curiosity it raises.
With an estimated 98 percent of lentils grown in the United States being produced in Whitman County, Pullman is living up to its reputation as the lentil capital of the country.
Pullman isn’t the only city showcasing crops as the iconic symbols of their community festivals, though.
Every year during the last full weekend in July, people flock to Gilroy, California for the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival. The City of Opelousas, Louisiana hosts the Yambilee Festival in honor of the local sweet potato crops. And in Fairborn, Ohio, crowds gather for corn shucking at the Sweet Corn Festival.
Events like these are part of an even larger industry, as the International Festivals & Events Association, or IFEA, notes on their website.
The IFEA website states that on a global scale, four to five million regular and re-occurring events and festivals are held each year, a number the site also claims contributes to a trillion dollar economic impact in US currency on the world market.
MacDonald, who attended IFEA’s 53rd annual international festival convention last year in Boise, Idaho, said festival organizers are constantly looking to find new ways of making their events better through improved sponsorship strategies, event ideas and also how to make festivals more environmentally sound.
As with other festival directors, developing a more “green” festival is something MacDonald said the Nation Lentil Festival Committee is working toward.
An estimated 20,000 to 25,000 people attend the National Lentil Festival each year, numbers MacDonald said were calculated based on average pounds of garbage generated per one attendee in the past.
With a push to become more recycle-oriented, the committee no longer uses the method of calculating attendees because of lower garbage generation, but instead looks to calculations made based on food consumption.
MacDonald said the overall benefits to the community are a high priority.
With a budget of about $50,000 granted by the City of Pullman on top of additional money brought in through sponsoring, the festival committee works to keep a sustainable event with low costs to participants paying for participation fees in the sports activities offered, MacDonald said.
MacDonald said most years the event breaks even in revenue, but sometimes is under and rarely slightly over the initial costs at the end of the event.
Despite these outcomes, community members remain confident in the overall benefits of the festival.
Monique Slipher, an employee at Bruised Books in Pullman, said she has worked during the festival in her 15 years of employment at different Main Street and nearby businesses and has seen a positive effect on the local economy.
“It draws a lot of people to town,” she said. “It’s probably the biggest thing in Pullman for the year,” she added.
Gunnar Nordquist, a WSU student who has attended the festival in previous years, said the festival provides an opportunity for the community to come together.
“It defines Pullman,” he added.
For now, MacDonald is continuing her campaign to build her sponsorship base and her festival organizing.
“For Pullman it’s a sense of pride,” she said. “Pullman is the home of WSU and the National Lentil Festival,” she added.
“This is one of those festivals that lasts two days, but for me lasts more like ten months,” MacDonald said.
The Palouse native MacDonald has planned two previous festivals, both of which she said enter planning phases the October following the previous festival.
MacDonald’s planning efforts are not done alone. MacDonald heads a committee of 15 to 20 committee members each with specific responsibilities, including a cook-off chair, microbrewery chair and a Little Lentil King and Queen coordinator.
Previous to her appointment to the position, she said her serving on the US Dry Pea and Lentil Council in Moscow, paired with her experience as a fifth generation farmer and holder of leadership positions, helped prepare her for her current role.
Planning for MacDonald includes what she calls her near “three-inch-thick to-do list” and what she describes as “a lot of 18 hour days.”
For each of the two festivals she has organized, she said the most challenging aspects of the job come from recruiting enough volunteers, which she said often number an estimated 300 people.
MacDonald said the festival’s history shows how much it has changed.
The first festival was in 1989 and was originally held every two months until the festival committee decided a change was needed due to low turnouts, MacDonald said.
“It was great but really small and really mediocre,” MacDonald said. “Then we decided to put all our energy into one festival every year,” she said of the festival committee.
MacDonald said the idea of showcasing the lentil came from careful consideration of local agriculture and ultimately deciding on a crop not typically highlighted by a community.
“Nobody celebrates lentils because they don’t know what they are,” she said.
MacDonald said the uniqueness of creating a festival around lentils helped build more interest in it due to the curiosity it raises.
With an estimated 98 percent of lentils grown in the United States being produced in Whitman County, Pullman is living up to its reputation as the lentil capital of the country.
Pullman isn’t the only city showcasing crops as the iconic symbols of their community festivals, though.
Every year during the last full weekend in July, people flock to Gilroy, California for the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival. The City of Opelousas, Louisiana hosts the Yambilee Festival in honor of the local sweet potato crops. And in Fairborn, Ohio, crowds gather for corn shucking at the Sweet Corn Festival.
Events like these are part of an even larger industry, as the International Festivals & Events Association, or IFEA, notes on their website.
The IFEA website states that on a global scale, four to five million regular and re-occurring events and festivals are held each year, a number the site also claims contributes to a trillion dollar economic impact in US currency on the world market.
MacDonald, who attended IFEA’s 53rd annual international festival convention last year in Boise, Idaho, said festival organizers are constantly looking to find new ways of making their events better through improved sponsorship strategies, event ideas and also how to make festivals more environmentally sound.
As with other festival directors, developing a more “green” festival is something MacDonald said the Nation Lentil Festival Committee is working toward.
An estimated 20,000 to 25,000 people attend the National Lentil Festival each year, numbers MacDonald said were calculated based on average pounds of garbage generated per one attendee in the past.
With a push to become more recycle-oriented, the committee no longer uses the method of calculating attendees because of lower garbage generation, but instead looks to calculations made based on food consumption.
MacDonald said the overall benefits to the community are a high priority.
With a budget of about $50,000 granted by the City of Pullman on top of additional money brought in through sponsoring, the festival committee works to keep a sustainable event with low costs to participants paying for participation fees in the sports activities offered, MacDonald said.
MacDonald said most years the event breaks even in revenue, but sometimes is under and rarely slightly over the initial costs at the end of the event.
Despite these outcomes, community members remain confident in the overall benefits of the festival.
Monique Slipher, an employee at Bruised Books in Pullman, said she has worked during the festival in her 15 years of employment at different Main Street and nearby businesses and has seen a positive effect on the local economy.
“It draws a lot of people to town,” she said. “It’s probably the biggest thing in Pullman for the year,” she added.
Gunnar Nordquist, a WSU student who has attended the festival in previous years, said the festival provides an opportunity for the community to come together.
“It defines Pullman,” he added.
For now, MacDonald is continuing her campaign to build her sponsorship base and her festival organizing.
“For Pullman it’s a sense of pride,” she said. “Pullman is the home of WSU and the National Lentil Festival,” she added.
# # #
Sources
Mary MacDonald
National Lentil Festival Director
director@lentilfest.com
Gunnar Nordquist
WSU Student
gunnar_nordquist@yahoo.com
Monique Slipher
Employee, Bruised Books
mslipher@hotmail.com
National Lentil Festival Director
director@lentilfest.com
Gunnar Nordquist
WSU Student
gunnar_nordquist@yahoo.com
Monique Slipher
Employee, Bruised Books
mslipher@hotmail.com
Outline for lentil fest story
1. Lede
2. Mary MacDonald
3. History of Lentil Festival
4. The Festival "industry"
5. Current NLF status
6. Community reaction
7. Final MacDonald quote
2. Mary MacDonald
3. History of Lentil Festival
4. The Festival "industry"
5. Current NLF status
6. Community reaction
7. Final MacDonald quote
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
On one hand, what would this photo really do to illustrate the situation at hand? Is it worth running the risk of losing your job/offending millions of Americans (potentially)/or actually causing some sort of profound positive change? On does the photo offer a crucial news value? I don't believe that there is a significant news value to this photo. I believe that it has a purpose, but not necessarily best served in a daily newspaper. Americans know that American soldiers are dying. Showing a graphic illustration should be reserved to highlight an unknown social injustice, in my opinion. Rather, this photo may be better used in a political magazine of some sort, where audiences must go out of their way to pick one up. Newspapers are more readily accessible. I can't explain why this makes a difference, but I think it does.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Martha Mendoza
I was able to listen to Martha Mendoza speak in the Evergreen conference room a week or so ago. What really intrigued me about what she said was her experiences in doing investigative-type journalism. Tracking down people for stories and reaching out to great extents for the sake of news gathering is pretty intense to hear about first-hand. I benifited from hearing what her processes were for working on projects like the Korean War story. I thought it also interesting how she believes FOIA requests should acknowledged in the story. I suppose I had never thought of that before.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Libel practice
1. “Up until the day he died, he was a brilliant writer. But the drugs made him a thief, a pimp and a liar,” said friend Karen Smith, who was with Johnson at the time of his death.
3. “In my opinion, Kevin is a murdering rapist,” the prosecutor told the jury.
Not Libel. This a quote from part of the trial.
4. "In my opinion, he's a murdering rapist," the man said at the rally.
Not Libel depending on the state. You can't libel a dead person in most states. The source is trusted, also. Smith was at Johnson's side upon his death.
2. “Megan Fox is a man!” Headline on Weekly World News Web site
It's satirical (hyperbole), Fox is a public figure, and WWNews is a parody paper.
2. “Megan Fox is a man!” Headline on Weekly World News Web site
It's satirical (hyperbole), Fox is a public figure, and WWNews is a parody paper.
3. “In my opinion, Kevin is a murdering rapist,” the prosecutor told the jury.
Not Libel. This a quote from part of the trial.
4. "In my opinion, he's a murdering rapist," the man said at the rally.
Libel.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Outline
Palouse Producers site
Explanation of the Brownfield site
IPG awarded to Palouse
What’s in the site exactly?
How did the site get contaminated?
How much will this clean-up cost?
Who will pay for it?
Ideas for development?
Who owns it now?
Explanation of the Brownfield site
IPG awarded to Palouse
What’s in the site exactly?
How did the site get contaminated?
How much will this clean-up cost?
Who will pay for it?
Ideas for development?
Who owns it now?
Contacts:
Michael Echanove – Interviewed via phone ¬
Mayor of Palouse
(509) 878-1811
Doug Willcox – Interviewed via phone
Brownfields Committee Chair
(509) 878-1836
Mike Bagott – Interviewed in-person
Bagott Motors (located next to Palouse Producers site)
(509) 878-1541
Joyce Beeson – Interviewed in-person
City Clerk/Treasurer
(509) 878-1811
John Sell – Contacted via phone
Current tenant of Palouse Producers site
(509) 878-1366
Michael Echanove – Interviewed via phone ¬
Mayor of Palouse
(509) 878-1811
Doug Willcox – Interviewed via phone
Brownfields Committee Chair
(509) 878-1836
Mike Bagott – Interviewed in-person
Bagott Motors (located next to Palouse Producers site)
(509) 878-1541
Joyce Beeson – Interviewed in-person
City Clerk/Treasurer
(509) 878-1811
John Sell – Contacted via phone
Current tenant of Palouse Producers site
(509) 878-1366
Palouse Brownfields Project underway
PALOUSE – Palouse is a town noted for its transformation from old and run-down, to clean and improved – a city the Washington State DOT awarded as the 2001 Best City Project winner for its main street enhancement efforts. But one piece of Main Street property has yet to transform.
A sun-bleached sign touting the name “IMFAB” hangs above the entrance of the Old Palouse Producers building on Main Street across from the Post Office. Weeds grow through the cracked asphalt parking area in trails leading up to weathered and worn Caterpillar fork-lifts, one of them sporting a set of deflated tires and chipped yellow paint, flanking pallets of cinder-blocks that rest in front of the entrance to the old metal fabrication building.
A sun-bleached sign touting the name “IMFAB” hangs above the entrance of the Old Palouse Producers building on Main Street across from the Post Office. Weeds grow through the cracked asphalt parking area in trails leading up to weathered and worn Caterpillar fork-lifts, one of them sporting a set of deflated tires and chipped yellow paint, flanking pallets of cinder-blocks that rest in front of the entrance to the old metal fabrication building.
Next door to the site is father-and-son-owned Bagott Motors.
Mike Bagott commented on the facility and its past.
“From a community perspective, even an empty lot would be better,” Bagott said.
The issue is the lack of site up-keep at the old Palouse Producers site, he said.
Mike Bagott commented on the facility and its past.
“From a community perspective, even an empty lot would be better,” Bagott said.
The issue is the lack of site up-keep at the old Palouse Producers site, he said.
The site, like an estimated 450,000 others similar to it nationwide, is considered a brownfield site, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, and the City of Palouse is planning on changing that.
Brownfield sites are parcels of land assessed by the EPA as contaminated, hazardous or polluted. Old or abandoned gas and service stations, fertilizer distribution centers and bulk fuel stations from the 1950s often sit on these sites – in many cases in downtown areas and on main streets.
Brownfield sites are parcels of land assessed by the EPA as contaminated, hazardous or polluted. Old or abandoned gas and service stations, fertilizer distribution centers and bulk fuel stations from the 1950s often sit on these sites – in many cases in downtown areas and on main streets.
In response to the contaminated land, the EPA Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative aims at strengthening local economies by helping communities clean-up and reuse brownfields sites. Projects typically include a study phase of the contamination or pollution at the site, a phase for devising a cleanup plan, a reuse plan, and finally implementation of clean-up and reuse.
“The point of the project is to address cleaning up these sites,” Palouse Brownfields Committee Chair Doug Willcox said. “The Brownfields projects are designed to restore these sites to contributing locations.”
To move the Brownfields project past the first stages, the state Department of Ecology awarded the City of Palouse with a $200,000 Integrated Planning Grant, or IPG. The city is using the IPG funds to devise a clean-up plan for contamination in the soil and ground water at the Palouse Producers site and a commercial reuse plan.
According to the May 2008 assessment of the site, researchers found petroleum, herbicide, pesticide, and manganese, which is found in unleaded gasoline, in the soil.
The Palouse Brownfield site’s history shows a pattern of uses free of any major contaminating presence until more recent years.
The May 2008 site assessment document for the project listed the earliest uses for the building in its nearly 120 years in use: a wagon wheel shop, butcher shop, general store, dentist office, stable and welding shop. In 1955, Conoco moved onto the site and constructed a service station with above ground service tanks to hold leaded gasoline.
According to the assessment, the contamination of the site only occurred sometime after 1977 when the owners at the time, Palouse Producers, operated a fertilizer distribution and bulk fuel facility.
Willcox said the contamination of the site came from mishandling the refueling of large delivery trucks while refueling from the large tanks in the mid ‘80s.
According to the assessment, the state Department of Ecology cited the Palouse Producers in 1985 for spills of petroleum and negligence leading to leaks into the Palouse River.
An active proponent of the Brownsfield project, Mayor Michael Echanove said no immediate threat to the health of the community is evident due to the sites contamination, despite the site’s close proximity to the Palouse River. Echanove said the cleanup still remains crucial to city improvement.
The May 2008 assessment listed costs involved with the actual cleanup of the site being an estimated $286,200 to be paid over five years in $54,000 installments, a price tag Echanove said some residents may be concerned with.
To cover those costs, Willcox said the city will look to acquire additional grant money from the DOE or EPA to help out.
The project has much of the town in support, Echanove said. “I wouldn’t say there is opposition.”
Currently, the Palouse Brownsfield Project is in the middle of the first step of the integrated planning process, Willcox said. Willcox said two approaches are being made -- one of them being the planning of the cleanup phase, and the other the planning of the economic development on the site.
In the City Hall office hangs an artist conception of possible commercial developments.
Echanove said one idea for future development of the site is a retail building featuring urban residences.
But for now, the facility remains stocked with metal fabrication supplies visible from the sidewalk and as a private storage building. Willcox said the current owner remains the Palouse Producers, a company that filed bankruptcy in 1986, and that possible acquisition of the site by the City would come later.
The current tenant John Sell declined to comment.
Meanwhile, many Palouse residence are looking forward to the future of the site.
Joyce Beeson, the City Clerk and Treasurer, said the project is a major source of pride in the community. “People are really proud of their little town now,” she added.
“The point of the project is to address cleaning up these sites,” Palouse Brownfields Committee Chair Doug Willcox said. “The Brownfields projects are designed to restore these sites to contributing locations.”
To move the Brownfields project past the first stages, the state Department of Ecology awarded the City of Palouse with a $200,000 Integrated Planning Grant, or IPG. The city is using the IPG funds to devise a clean-up plan for contamination in the soil and ground water at the Palouse Producers site and a commercial reuse plan.
According to the May 2008 assessment of the site, researchers found petroleum, herbicide, pesticide, and manganese, which is found in unleaded gasoline, in the soil.
The Palouse Brownfield site’s history shows a pattern of uses free of any major contaminating presence until more recent years.
The May 2008 site assessment document for the project listed the earliest uses for the building in its nearly 120 years in use: a wagon wheel shop, butcher shop, general store, dentist office, stable and welding shop. In 1955, Conoco moved onto the site and constructed a service station with above ground service tanks to hold leaded gasoline.
According to the assessment, the contamination of the site only occurred sometime after 1977 when the owners at the time, Palouse Producers, operated a fertilizer distribution and bulk fuel facility.
Willcox said the contamination of the site came from mishandling the refueling of large delivery trucks while refueling from the large tanks in the mid ‘80s.
According to the assessment, the state Department of Ecology cited the Palouse Producers in 1985 for spills of petroleum and negligence leading to leaks into the Palouse River.
An active proponent of the Brownsfield project, Mayor Michael Echanove said no immediate threat to the health of the community is evident due to the sites contamination, despite the site’s close proximity to the Palouse River. Echanove said the cleanup still remains crucial to city improvement.
The May 2008 assessment listed costs involved with the actual cleanup of the site being an estimated $286,200 to be paid over five years in $54,000 installments, a price tag Echanove said some residents may be concerned with.
To cover those costs, Willcox said the city will look to acquire additional grant money from the DOE or EPA to help out.
The project has much of the town in support, Echanove said. “I wouldn’t say there is opposition.”
Currently, the Palouse Brownsfield Project is in the middle of the first step of the integrated planning process, Willcox said. Willcox said two approaches are being made -- one of them being the planning of the cleanup phase, and the other the planning of the economic development on the site.
In the City Hall office hangs an artist conception of possible commercial developments.
Echanove said one idea for future development of the site is a retail building featuring urban residences.
But for now, the facility remains stocked with metal fabrication supplies visible from the sidewalk and as a private storage building. Willcox said the current owner remains the Palouse Producers, a company that filed bankruptcy in 1986, and that possible acquisition of the site by the City would come later.
The current tenant John Sell declined to comment.
Meanwhile, many Palouse residence are looking forward to the future of the site.
Joyce Beeson, the City Clerk and Treasurer, said the project is a major source of pride in the community. “People are really proud of their little town now,” she added.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Notes from skype session with Michael Berens
1. Quantify the issue?
2. Potential change?
3. Good v. bad?
Outlined the story and fact-checked...no surprises to DSHS
No stealth reporting
Bullet-proof stories
look for advocates...
there are people who are deeply concerned about these issues...just as there are UFO experts out there who 'know their stuff'
attornies
lawsuits
state ombudsman's office
Point of view journalism (investigative journalism)
not an advocate, but someone who sees something that needs to change
"he said, she said, now i'm gonna tell you who is lying."
He comes out with a thesis, present his case, then the reader is either going to believe him or not.
Newspapers don't want investigative reporters anymore:
almost a year on salary working on this story... forty or fifty people on this project... Times didn't sell any advertisment based on this, it didn't make the paper any money... the job doesn't make sense economically.
People want that watchdog out there.
Questions for Michael Berens
How long did you work on this story?
How did you find out that this was going on?
What sort of feedback have you recieved from readers?
What was your plan in filing public records requests that you used? What did you look for first?
How did you get in-touch with those you interviewed/find out who to interview?
How did you find out that this was going on?
What sort of feedback have you recieved from readers?
What was your plan in filing public records requests that you used? What did you look for first?
How did you get in-touch with those you interviewed/find out who to interview?
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