In case you missed it, reporter Susan Cover had a really unusual story in today's newspapers (A1 of Kennebec Journal; B1 of Morning Sentinel).

In her piece, Susan describes how local fisherman Bob Greene was on the Kennebec River when he saw what he first thought was a log, then thought was a body, floating downriver.

Greene called police on his cell phone and a dispatcher told him not to jump in after the person, but rather to try to keep the person from going downstream even more, from Greene's perch on the river's dock.

The winter of 2008-09 will be brutal for many Mainers financially. A combination of record-high heating-oil and other energy costs and a tough economy, in Maine and nationally, could push some people over the edge financially.

The Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel staffs have been talking a lot about energy and gasoline costs. We've done many stories on this topic already. We also have run informative articles from our sister paper, the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, and from the Associated Press and other wire services to which we subscribe.

Readers: From time to time I share critiques that I've previously sent to the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel staffs./Eric
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My daughters, 9 and 7, are huge Hannah Montana fans. While my wife and I limit their TV time, they watch Miley Cyrus' show ("Hannah Montana") whenever they can. If they see the same show 10 times, they seem fine with that.

It shows how old I am, but I remember being the same way about Gilligans Island. And Johnny Quest. And the Partridge Family. And...

An editor at the Kennebec Journal yesterday suggested that the story about Cyrus' Vanity Fair photo shoot — she's 15, and some VF photos showed a lot of skin and were provocative — should go on page A1.

So, on Tuesday I got a new Maine drivers' license, as my birthday is a few days away.

Before I go on, I must say Maine does a good job with drivers' licenses. I lived in Florida for six years and getting a new or renewed license there was a nightmare. You had to count on spending hours waiting to be served.

Sex sells. Right? Everyone knows that.

An occasional criticism of newspapers is that we sensationalize things to sell newspapers. While it's true we want to sell newspapers, it's also true we try to be responsible with our story decisions, especially on the front page. Otherwise, over time, we'd run the risk of turning off more readers than we excite by routinely overplaying what titillates.

Last Thursday, we carried a Portland Press Herald article on page B8 of the Morning Sentinel about a U.S. Sen. Susan Collins campaign video that showed Iraq War protesters burning flags, and also showed a separate image of U.S. Rep. Tom Allen — Collins' opponent.

Our copy editor working on the page made a bad error. His headline said, "Collins camp launches video attacking Allen" and went on to say, "Video shows Allen burning flag." The second part of the headline is false.

"What's the best story here?" "What's the story about?" Sometimes he'd get an answer from a staffer, but press again: "OK, but what's the story really ABOUT?"

Joel Rawson, executive editor of the Providence Journal, met with 27 newsroom reporters, editors and photographers Monday, and challenged us to dig a little deeper, go a little farther, with our reporting and writing.

This story really caught us off-guard Friday night. I was at the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce banquet when my cell phone starting ringing, about 8:20 p.m. Our reporters were on their way to Lawrence High.

Reporters Matt DiFilippo and Travis Lazarczyk (aided by Amy Calder) covered it throughout the weekend, and we have another follow coming in tomorrow morning's newspaper.

Some people I've talked to about this see it as a "sign of the times" story, but I don't know. I think these events are isolated in Maine. Hopefully, they stay that way.

By the way, if you or anyone you know has videos or photos from this game, we'd like to see them. Let me know if you do, or if you want to comment on our coverage.

Eric Conrad
Executive Editor
Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel
Telephone: 207-621-5630

The Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce held a "Meet the Legislators" event Tuesday night in downtown Waterville. It was a fairly informal, fun event.

More than a half-dozen lawmakers attended. There was no press conference or public question-and-answer. Rather, chamber members met and queried the lawmakers in small groups or one-on-one. I did too.

Here are the themes I picked up on:

— This session will be marked by a lack of money. A key question being asked of many bills with costs attached is whether to reject them in committee or send them to the Appropriations Committee and have them turned back there. That doesn't sound like much of a distinction but by forwarding some measures, legislators hope at least to send a message that they support the idea.

— There is genuine concern over the fate of the school-consolidation law. Many small-town educators and leaders, and the legislators who represent them, have reasons to work against this bill.

— Legislators on both sides of the aisle give Gov. John Baldacci credit for his provocative (by Maine standards) consolidation proposals, and a few others. But he suffers from a lack of political capital. He has said openly that he will not pursue a political future after his second term as governor. Lawmakers don't think they have to be too careful around him.

Eric Conrad
Executive Editor
Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel
Telephone: 207-621-5630

As you may have noticed in today's newspapers, we plan a three-story series on the Ice Storm of '98, starting Sunday. The series will look back at one of the state's biggest natural disasters but also will pose some tough questions: Are we better prepared now? Has enough been done?

Read our editorial here.

In Monday's newspaper, we also will include a full-color food magazine, "Relish," that we know readers will enjoy. That will appear the first Monday of every month.

If you do, you won't want to miss the Kennebec Journal or Morning Sentinel this Sunday.

Sentinel reporter Craig Crosby has a feature story about the popularity of Texas Hold 'Em poker in central Maine.

Craig talked to people from Chelsea to Skowhegan who are playing the game, often on a weekly basis, rotating from home to home.

Dear readers: Sometimes I let you in on the in-house criticism that we routinely share at the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. Here's the latest example./Eric

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Folks: Since I was away last week, and I read a bunch of the papers Sunday night at home, I thought it was a good opportunity for me to examine all the things we're doing, from big to small, and write a semi-detailed critique similar to what I did my first few months on the job (early this year).

I know that sometimes these comments sting a little, even if I don't name names when I criticize. While I don't mean to zing anyone, and the comments are not "personal," I do see value in these observations because there are lessons here for all of us, not just the folks whose work gets held up for praise or constructive criticism.

Sunday
I was impressed by the way both lead stories -- Colin Hickey on retail theft in the Sentinel and Meghan Malloy on women in prison at the KJ -- were reported, written, photographed and put together. If there was better A1 enterprise at a small daily anywhere -- anywhere -- than these two packages, from the leads to the nugget boxes, I'd love to see it. Well done, and both packages were team efforts. (Photos by David Leaming, Jim Evans.)

Consider this lead by Colin: "Craig Nadeau sees the telltale signs of shoplifting at Marden's Surplus and Salvage story in Waterville on a regular basis: empty boxes, discarded packages, old shoes in place of new ones." (That sets a visual scene doesn't it?)

Or this one from Meghan: "Maine women are gaining ground in an unlikely place: the state's county jails." (This lead is simple and to the point. We've stressed conversational prose in past critiques. This is conversational writing.)

Local column on B1 of both papers referred to Iowans as "white redneck midwesterners." Not OK. We would never allow something like that to be printed about a group with minority status. And it's not true. Education and income levels in many parts of Iowa probably meet or exceed Maine's.

Wednesday (out of order, I know)
Good mix of stories on A1 of the Sentinel. Again, Sentinel cutlines were too short and uninformative in the B section. Photographers, please: Cutlines MUST do more than say a man walks in snow on a bridge (when the photo clearly shows that). Copy editors and page designers: Please demand more of your colleagues than this, if you see it again.

Our inside-B pages in the Sentinel can be gray with long court listings and other "news of record" stuff that we know people read. But, on New England pages then, let's take the time to work in AP photos and graphics so they're not gray too (they had no photos this day).

I appreciated the alertness and effort to do something on local Sports today. Gary Hawkins' preview of some 5-K races in the area was an example of pushing out a local story when the fall HS playoffs are behind us. Thank you.

Good hustle and mix on A1 of the KJ too. I liked the fact that we hustled on the weather/storm/icy roads story (Betty Adams plus photo) -- BUT we had a duplicate photo. An accident scene photo ran on A1 and inside B. The desk should have talked this through better; news editors have to be careful if they tell a copy editor to run a photo inside. We need to be sure the A1 and B1 copy editors know what's going where too.

Another re-reminder: Play Maine biz stories ABOVE non-Maine biz stories on our Business page. Almost every time.

Thursday
The Happy Thanksgiving promo above the flag needed 1 more entry, from Sports or somewhere. The Holiday Gift Guide item wasn't enough. Also, we are matching the Sentinel royal blue to the Sentinel colors well but the red we're using in the KJ is nowhere near the magenta/red that the KJ has as its color brand...

I thought I'd been clear about this too, but our Editor's Note nuggets should not, and do not have to, run BEFORE the story bylines. They are to be treated as nuggets on the covers (B1 Sentinel story from Ecuador today). Treat them just like other nuggets but run 'em on the cover if the story is there.

Friday
We also continue to run stories too shallow at the bottom of B1. Here is a good guideline: At least 4 graphs of a story should make the cover before a story jumps. Don't run photos as large as we do (sometimes) to make this guideline happen reliably.

We have to be consistent with bylines, too: PPH writers are not "Staff Writers." And watch our caps and lower cases here.

Saturday
The lead of our game story from the Cony upset over Gardiner says this won't be considered one of the biggest upsets in the rivalry's history. But, we never say in the story which one(s) would be the biggest upset(s). That's frustrating to readers. If you raise something like that, you need to answer the question you indirectly pose.

Good writing by Travis Barrett on the "Upta Camp" story on Outdoors. It was a fun read. But the inside-the-camp photos were weak. Page designers should not emphasize weak photos. The shots of the guys hunting outside were better. They should've led the page. We need to improve our photo report for Outdoors and should consider stand-alones from our photo staff when the submitted photos fall short. This consistently should be one of the best-looking covers in the paper.

Today I wanted to share with you an e-mail about our contest submissions this year. I sent this to our staff earlier.

Folks: We will send a bunch of "Newspaper of the Year" and other contest entries out this week, part of the New England Newspaper Association's annual awards. I want to tell you how proud I was to enter this year. In fact, some of our best papers —and best story-and-photo reports — didn't make it, as we subjectively selected things we hope the judges will appreciate.

Awards and contests are fickle. They're subjective. They're overrated. And they matter. The NENA awards especially are judged by top editors from around the U.S. who are flown to Boston (usually), treated well — and who take this responsibility seriously. We typically have not been considered a NENA "Newspaper of the Year," and we may not again this year. But we're getting close, I'm telling you. If breadth and strength of local content were the dominant criterion, as it is for readers, I think we would win the lion's share.

Here's what's in:
We are entering the Photo of the Year category for both newspapers. I asked Jim Evans and his staff make these selections. I'll ask Jim to fill you in on those Tuesday.

The "For I was Hungry" editorial series will be nominated for a Publick Occurrences Award. Each year, Nieman Fellows select 5-8 top newspaper projects and entries for this prestigious award.

The "hunger series" was innovative, took risks, got attention and is getting results. It has a shot. Good luck to lead writer Naomi Schalit and to Jim Evans and Sharon Wood, who also played roles in this project.

The KJ daily papers were from July 18 (when John Okie was arrested for the Mills slaying, after his father, too, was found dead) and from Sept. 14, a mandatory date. That paper led with the state rejecting several school-consolidation proposals (Keith Edwards) and a piece on the Farmingdale adult-book vote (Susan Cover).

The KJ Sunday newspapers were from June 3, when we led with a profile of Jean Paul Poulain (AJ Higgins) and a political analysis by Susan Cover. Also, the mandatory draw was Sept. 16, which led with a piece by Betty Adams on Kents Hill School not having all the records about John Okie.

The Sentinel daily newspapers were from July 23, which led with the Hunger series (different judges) and the Sept. 13 mandatory paper which had a good mix of news about a coal-tar cleanup (Doug Harlow), vermin house (Joel Elliott) and an award being offered for a murder (Larry Grard).

The Sunday papers were from Sept. 9, which led with an analysis on college costs by Colin Hickey, and the mandatory date of Sept. 16, which led with a piece on rafting by Joel. Both mandatory draw dates were generally favorable for the Sentinel.

Finally, we will enter the KJ of Feb. 26 for a "front-page award." There is only one front page recognized annually so you know this is tough, but I felt the Slates fire coverage (Elizabeth Comeau, Susan Cover, Andy Molloy) needed to be entered somehow.

We may submit more editorial and other articles for specialized awards too, but these are the highlights. The NENA contest is not a writing contest with a lot of categories. Those are NEAPNEA (New England Associated Press News Executives Association) and MPA (Maine Press Association) and they come a little later.

Today I wanted to let you know about a column I'm writing for the Monday newspapers illustrating how challenging it was to put together front pages, like the one we did Monday with the Red Sox World Series championship.

It started last week when we reported that a tractor-trailer loaded with chicken manure overturned on a man's lawn, caking his yard, trees and parked cars.

It continued Sunday with a remarkable story about a Waterville
dentist whose license has been suspended for a variety of reasons.

The story told how staffers engaged in inappropriate sexual
behavior at the office, performed poor dental work -- and that the dentist herself
showed up wearing a belly dancer costume. You can read the story
here: Disciplined dentist seeks to regain license

We also reported on a possible tornado that touched down in Somerset County
Saturday. Tornadoes are unusual in Maine, but Saturday's weather conditions
sparked either a small tornado or a "microburst" in Pittsfield and East
Madison that caused up to $1 million in damage.

You can read Darla Pickett's stories here:Tornado-like winds cause extensive property damage in Somerset County

Wind crushes cars, fells trees in Somerset County

In the Morning Sentinel yesterday, we reported on Sister Katherine Kelm, who
apparently thwarted a burglary by slamming shut a window on someone as they tried to enter the convent. This was the same place where two nuns were killed 11 years ago.

You can read that story here:Nun thwarts burglar at Waterville convent

What's my point? Summer traditionally is regarded as a slow season for news
(though I've always doubted that), but this summer we've reported on many
unusual and just flat-out interesting events. The summer of 2007 has been
anything but routine.

Newspaper readers: This Sunday, we introduce some nice improvements to our Life & Leisure section. We've heard from our research that one area where we could do better, news-wise, is serving younger women.

So, we've added one of the nation's hippest advice columnists, Harlan Cohen, and his nationally known column, Help Me Harlan! It's not just for women. Rather, his advice is largely for people under 35 who face a fast-paced dating world and just being happy.

We'll also start a new garden column. Tom Atwell, who was born and raised in central Maine, writes a weekly column on Maine gardening for the Maine Sunday Telegram. This week, he'll start writing for us too. Tom also writes a blog for the Portland Press Herald Web site. I haven't added him to our Web sites yet; if you feel strongly about that, let me know. Tom replaces long-time garden columnist Henry Homeyer, who did a wonderful job for us. Thank you, Henry.

Finally, we've built a new page that is intended to give "on the go" readers highlights for the coming week or so on TV, at the movies, with local music, arts and entertainment shows. It will include short features on local stars (yes, we have some.). We tell you what the "hot tix" are -- hottest event tickets currently on sale in our area. We hope you find it a useful, easy-to-read guide to fun events coming up.

This Monday, Opinion Page Editor Naomi Schalit delivers a seven-part editorial series -- a highly unusual and, we think, effective effort -- on hunger in Maine.

Naomi's series starts on Page A1 Monday, where Publisher John Christie also pens a column introducing the project. Then, Tuesday through next Sunday, it moves to the editorial page. We feel it's provocative, effective, surprising, poignant. You'll ultimately be the judge.

While the newspaper series is in itself one of the biggest undertakings we've ever done at the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel, there will be online extras, too: a "writers journal," also written by Naomi; extra graphics and charts; and, of course, places where readers can comment on our work and interact with the staff.

While this is largely Naomi's work, the series is a team effort, as all newspaper special efforts are. Jim Evans, our photo chief, was the photographer on this project. Sharon Wood designed the package in print and did all the graphics. She also created the logo for the series, which is titled "For I Was Hungry." John and I helped Naomi with the direction of the editorials, as the three of us comprise our newspapers' editorial board. John and I also edited the series. Elizabeth Comeau and Glenn Turner handled the online duties. Skowhegan bureau reporter Alan Crowell and KJ City Editor Teresa Hineline filled in for Naomi on the opinion page when she took the time needed to report and write this major project.

We think you will be surprised and challenged by what you read. Don't miss it, starting Monday.

What a weekend of news. Talk about variety.

The Saturday Morning Sentinel was one of the strongest newspapers we've had this year. The A1 lineup included: A story of a family worried about a missing woman; a moose-motorcycle accident that claimed the life of a Maine
man (Maine's fourth moose-motorist fatality this year); a mayoral budget veto in Waterville; a story about rural Maine Internet service; and a feature previewing the Winslow July 4 celebration, which is one of the area's largest.

We talk a lot about story "mix" on the front page, hoping for a combination of hard-news stories, people features, issues, crime and government coverage. That's what Sentinel readers got Saturday.

Then, on Sunday and Monday, we used Portland Press Herald stories to "cover" a truly historic event happening right now in Kennebunkport, where President Bush, former President Bush and Russia's Vladimir Putin are gathering to mend U.S.-Russian relations, and perhaps reach some agreements. No matter how you feel about the Bush Administration, this is a major news story for Maine.

Today, we had an intriguing story by Craig Crosby about a study ascertaining what happens when trout and other fish swallow rubber worms used in fishing. (Turns out, not much. They seem to stay in the fishes' bellies, perhaps forever.) I must say I winced a little at seeing the
"detail" (up-close) photo, in living color, of a disemboweled fish on the front page of the Sentinel this morning.

Interestingly, I've not received an e-mail or phone call objecting to the somewhat-graphic photo. Perhaps people read the story, which was thoughtfully done, and realized that the photo was important to illustrate the story. Or perhaps in Central Maine people are used to catching, handling and preparing fish for a cookout or pan fry.

If you missed it, you can read Craig's fish story here: Mystery of the Missing Lure