And then there was March 24

There are many milestones in my journalism career that I will never forget.

I was the first reporter in the office on Sept. 11, 2001, and helped get out a special edition about the 9/11 attacks. I was the reporter on duty when the JonBenet Ramsey story broke (a local story for me). I was also on duty when the space shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entry and I put together a huge, local-angle package of stories on deadline. I was the editor on duty the day the USSR ended communist rule.

And then there was March 24, 2020.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had an adrenaline rush on deadline like I did that day. It was my second day back in the office after being self-quarantined due to a potential exposure to coronavirus. (No, I don’t have it and I did not get sick.)

Mondays and Tuesdays are normally very hectic as they are the primary days we finish stories and send them to page designers to be placed on pages for print. Just when I thought I had everything ready we had one of those stop-the-presses moments.

It began for me when my boss asked me to make significant changes to the story I wrote about San Felipe’s election issues. I ended up breaking it into two stories and making some deep edits. In the meantime, Sports Editor Cole McNanna found out via Facebook that someone in Sealy reported testing positive for coronavirus (COVID-19). Since I was already tied up with my stories, I needed him to look into it and work up a story. He made numerous attempts to contact the person and eventually did.

While he was doing that, I was trying to help out by contacting local government officials and health departments to see if they could confirm anything. No one could. Local officials had seen the same Facebook post, but had no official word from the CDC or the state health department. Cole not only got additional information from the patient but was also given the test results. He called the doctor’s office in Eagle Lake where the patent was tested. Everything was verified the best we could.

When Cole wrote his story he relied heavily on the patient’s Facebook post for quotation. Under normal circumstances we would edit the comments to style. I opted to leave it unedited so readers could see the raw, organic response and know its legitimacy. Unfortunately, that led a lot of people to accusing us of just copying and pasting a Facebook post without verification and helping to spread rumors and panic. That’s just not true.

While I was dotting I’s and crossing T’s on my stories, Cole was verifying his information and we stand firmly behind it. I cannot commend Cole enough for the outstanding job he did stepping out of his comfort zone and taking on a breaking, hard news story on deadline. Thanks to his keen observation and quick action we were able to provide this important information to the public long before government sources. That’s not meant to be a knock on government, but kudos to Cole for quick action and smart reporting.

I’d like to give you more insights into my own investigation into the situation in San Felipe, but to say anything more at this time would be premature. There have been lots of accusations made, and in all fairness to all parties involved I want to make sure a careful and thorough investigation is done before anything is reported. Just because town officials have been accused of something doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true. They certainly haven’t been charged with anything and deserve to have their side of the story told.

The rumors need to be either confirmed or debunked. It’s my goal to do just that. It will take some time, so please be patient and stay tuned as this story unfolds. In the meantime, be sure to wash your hands and keep social distancing yourself in public.

P.S. I want to wish a happy birthday to my oldest son, Wesley, who was born on this day (April 2) in 1995.