A back story on fatal dog attack
Many times when we report stories, we learn interesting details that don't end up in an article, either because there's no space for them or because they just don't fit. This was the case with the...
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Fatal dog attack back story 2
Another bit of back story has to do with the way stories are picked up by other media outlets.The day after we published our story about the tragic pit bull attack, we got calls from three television...
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Out in the world, sometimes
When you think about cops and breaking news reporting, many of you may think of a reporter who's constantly on the move, on the street, chasing stories at crime scenes and disaster areas.That's...
View ArticleKeeping in touch with tragedy
Much of what I report on as a breaking news and cops reporter involves tragedy, and often that includes trying to contact families who have lost loved ones to violence or horrible accidents.When we are...
View ArticleThe scene of the crime
I've covered a number of homicides, and when I arrive at a crime scene, I usually find one of two situations: If the crime just happened, I generally find an area cordoned off with police tape and...
View ArticleJail versus prison
Writing today's article about inmate voting reminded me that I wanted to explain the difference between jail and prison.Before I started working the police beat, I thought jail and prison were...
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Good news in car crash
Even though I'm a writer by trade, I'll admit that this picture is worth a bucket of words.The good news is that the people in this car are OK. The CHP reported that the 58-year-old driver and the...
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Have you seen this man?
Have you seen this man with a shaved head? If you have, Ventura police would like to hear from you.Police are asking for information about this man, whose image was captured by security cameras at...
View ArticleWhy good news is small news -- usually
We in the media are media are sometimes accused of focusing only on bad news, and while I wouldn't agree entirely, it's true that bad news is generally big news: natural disasters, economic meltdowns,...
View ArticleThe tip of the iceberg
As I was driving back to the office yesterday from Uriel Loya-Bucio's funeral mass in Oxnard, I began thinking about what I learned and what I didn't.I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let's back...
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Additional views
The Ventura City Fire Department frequently sends us photos from the incidents they handle, and while we don't generally publish those in the paper, they can be very interesting. I received three...
View ArticlePedeferri's journal
The story of CHP Officer Tony Pedeferri's traumatic injuries when he was struck by an intoxicated driver while on duty and his dramatic recovery have garnered tremendous public attention.We have...
View ArticleRumor
Rumors are mercurial beasts.Here's an example from yesterday morning (2/12):We got several concerned calls from readers about an incident at the Mormon Church on Sinaloa Road in Simi Valley.First...
View ArticleDisclosure
I noticed with interest last week that we had many comments on our web site about the fact that the Star's attorney is also representing former Sheriff's deputy Claudia Valenciana, in whose home...
View ArticleRace in suspect descriptions
We often receive criticisms from commenters and law enforcement officials about our policy in regards to printing the description of a suspect's race, and some may have been surprised today to see that...
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