Dear Governor -- take a look

If you haven’t had a chance yet, I encourage you to take a look at the Dear Governor special section in today’s paper. It’s one of the strongest projects we have ever done — it’s timely, it’s comprehensive and it captures the voices of residents from all over the state, folks like us who have a stake in the upcoming elections and the future of Connecticut.

Editorial Page Editor Ray Hackett, Multimedia Editor Aaron Flaum and Design Editor John Meo led the way to create this vibrant and timely print product, and had much help in the newsroom to bring the product home. Aaron and Emily Perkins did a great job with the online component, which features dozens and dozens of videos and photos as well as a county-by-county index of the print content.

A lot of people worked hard to put this together. The folks in the newsroom appreciate the support from Paul Provost, advertising, circulation, marketing and production to make the section a success. That support continues (we will have a kiosk with today’s Norwich Bulletin at the Democratic state convention in Hartford, for example). And Ray, who is covering the conventions this weekend, will personally hand a copy of the Dear Governor section to each of the candidates for governor, letting them know we found out what residents need from them. The section will be a must read in Hartford this weekend.

A switch in the plans

Starting Thursday, we are changing the days in which we present two of our theme pages on Living. The Style section, which normally runs Fridays, will be on Thursdays. That means you get all your fashion news plus Racquelle Nash's column a day earlier.

The Movies page, meanwhile, now moves to Fridays. We'll have reviews, news and more on that day. The reason for the move? The sources of our movie reviews -- Gannett News Service and GateHouse News Service -- weren't moving their reviews until late Wednesday or Thursday, meaning we couldn't get them on the movie page on time. Hence the switch.

Let us know what you think. E-mail me at jkonrad@norwichbulletin.com.

Racquelle Nash is now blogging

Racquelle Nash, our fun and talented Defining Style writer, is now writing a blog about fashion. Check it out here, and watch for Racquelle's weekly columns in the Bulletin.

Ray Hacket named GateHouse's top editorial writer

From a note to our staff Wednesday:

Congratulations to Ray Hackett, who was named Editorial Writer of the Year for Class (the biggest circulation papers) in the 2009 Best of GateHouse competition.

Ray’s insight, his anticipation of the news and his proactive editorials have made a difference in Norwich, the region and the state. Constructive criticism, bold advice and — when needed — stern rebuke in Ray’s editorials have made the Bulletin a strong voice for change and improvement. In short, Ray’s editorials don’t react to the news, they help shape it. We are very proud of Ray and happy that the judges recognized Ray’s achievements and vast contributions to the Bulletin and communities we serve.

Also, as Paul (Provost, our publisher) mentioned, the Bulletin was also the top finalist for the newspaper of the year — and we are among the smallest papers in the Class A category! We are off to a great start in 2010, and I look forward to seeing what our talented and dedicated staff has in store for the rest of the year.

Jim

Today, many of us are Irish

Check out the Bulletin's web site late tonight and tomorrow for photos of local folks celebrating St. Patrick's Day at some local pubs. If you have photos, send them to photos@norwichbulletin.com. Have a fun and safe night!

The mystery of the missing balloon

Got a note in the mail today with the recent Northeastern edition front page cut out in it. There was a photo of a man who owned farmland. He was looking into selling the land, on which a cell tower would be built. The caption said that behind the man was a balloon that showed the height of the tower, when it was built. "Great picture!" the mysterious mailer wrote on the photo. "But ... where's the balloon?" Below, more comments: "Does anyone proof read this stuff?"

Well, yes we do. Behind the man is the balloon. It's red and tiny and really hard to see, but it's definitely there. The photo looked much better on the computer, and the printout, than it did in the newspaper. We weren't mistaken, or lying, when we said the balloon was there. But the quality of the reproduction didn't show that well. It's something to consider moving forward -- will this photo show what we want it to in print?

Dead man still walking

Got a call from a reader today -- upset that a comment under a story about a body found claimed he was the dead man. Well, the man's family and friends saw that and were upset. The post was flagged by a fellow commenter and removed in a timely manner --- as was the dope who put up the post. The supposed dead man was more gracious than many people would be, and we appreciate that. But it underscores the responsibility we give readers of the web site with the comments function. Play by the pool rules. If you don't, we'll throw you out.