We have to hand it to the Standard-Examiner. When they get a bee in their bonnet, and sniff out a hot topic that will sell a whole lot of newspapers -- they commit themselves 110%.
We refer of course to yesterday's Std-Ex edition, in which our home town newspaper features no fewer than eight stories about the festering local gang problem, in and about our beloved Emerald City. In the course of compiling information for yesterday's newspaper, the Std-Ex editors assigned at least seven reporters and other staff to this herculean effort, according to our quick head-count. We'll make the tally "eight," if we count the fine Grondahl cartoon.
While to some readers this will seem like reporting yesterday's news today, your blogmeister took most of the weekend off, so all of this was news to us this morning when we arrived back in our plush and hi-tech Weber County Forum offices high on the hill overlooking Emerald City. For those readers (especially the out-of-towners who may not have already taken a peek at this impressive collection of articles, we've helpfully gathered the links below:
The Standard-Examiner 8/12/07 Emerald City Gangsta Article Compendium
(Chris Peterson was unavailable for comment.)
Not to let any grass grow under the Std-Ex's feet, the folks at the newspaper provide yet two more stories today, on the local gang-banger topic:
The first of these,"Suppression versus Prevention", consists of a somewhat predictable he said-she said crosstalk, on the issues framed in the headline, between a former Emerald City gang-banger turned criminal justice professor, and hard-nosed Emerald City cops (Chief Greiner, for instance.)
Today's second article, "Too many parents in denial, police say," is aimed at the family values segment of Std-Ex readership, and to those parents who have latch-key kids, we guess. Here's the gist of it:
OGDEN — A nurturing home environment is key to keeping impressionable kids out of gangs, says a veteran Ogden police officer.Coming soon from the Standard-Examiner, we hope, will be a thoroughly-researched and information-rich expose' on the gang that operates from the ninth floor of city hall. The "Boss Godfrey Gang," is how they're known "on the street."
Parents must be involved in their children’s lives and be willing to face the cold reality that certain kinds of tattoos, clothing and behavior are an indication of gang affiliation, said Sgt. Kevin Cottrell, head of the Ogden Metro Gang Unit.
“We deal with so many parents who are in denial,” he said. “They tell us to our face that their kids are not in a gang.”
For that we can only hope.
We'll now abruptly shift gears to another subject that's near and dear to our Weber County Forum hearts, and focus on this morning's Tim Gurrister article, which reports that State Supreme Court efforts to overhaul the Utah Justice Court system are right on track. Good on ya, Tim. Thanks for the update.
The floor's all yours, gentle readers. Please don't hesitate to use this forum to clear out the weekend cobwebs.
