Editor's Desk

Dear Governor -- take a look

2010-05-21T12:54:00.001-04:00

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

2010-03-30T10:00:00.003-04:00

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

2010-03-25T17:28:00.002-04:00

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

2010-03-25T10:25:00.001-04:00

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

2010-03-17T17:06:00.001-04:00

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

2010-03-17T10:34:00.002-04:00

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

2009-01-29T13:08:00.002-05:00

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.

Debate tickets are available

2008-10-06T10:53:00.002-04:00

The Bulletin is hosting one of the debates in the Second Congressional District. It takes place Oct. 15 at Plainfield High. The debate is a joint effort between the Bulletin, the Northeastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce and Greater Norwich Area Chamber of Commerce. All have tickets available – and they’re free.

The Bulletin hosted a series of debates for municipal offices last year, and this is the logical next step. We think the debates last year gave residents a chance to hear firsthand what candidates had to say, and helped them form their opinions at the voting booth. It should be the same this year.

Pick up tickets at The Bulletin’s main office at 66 Franklin St. or at the Danielson office at 113 School St. Chamber members can call for tickets: Northeastern chamber at 774-8001; Norwich area chamber at 887-1647. Limit 4 tickets per person.

Sometimes, no chatting allowed

2008-09-02T13:18:00.000-04:00

The Bulletin’s return to story comments on online versions of stories has been going pretty well. Folks are, for the most part, informative, polite and respectful. But there are times when their buttons get pushed and they go out of bounds – quickly.

That happened last week with the breaking news of the toddler who was shot to death with his father’s gun. Obviously, this is a tragedy and there may be criminal charges pending. The initial story had several comments expressing sorrow for the family, but there were more than a few berating the parents because of the allegedly available gun. So we made the decision that little good could be had from having barbs hurled about this incident, and stopped the comments function.

It was a difficult decision to make. The family is obviously going through much now. While stopping the comments halted folks being able to express their sympathy, it also shut off the writers – and there were more than a few – who simply wanted to pile on to the family’s misery. There didn’t seem to be a compelling reason to allow this, so the comments on this story, for now, are idle.

Take me to the fair

2008-08-22T17:21:00.001-04:00

The Brooklyn Fair is one of the biggest events in Eastern Connecticut, and we have been all over it. Besides our previews, we are covering the fair every day and will have photo galleries throughout the weekend. We also are working on getting results from all of the contests and competitions to run our Web site. Check NorwichBulletin.com soon to see your victory.

Fantasy football season is here

2008-08-19T12:09:00.001-04:00

The Bulletin debuts a new product Wednesday and it's geared toward NFL fans overall and fantasy fans in particular. This week, Pro Football Weekly's 16-page fantasy preview section will be in your Wednesday Bulletin. It’s got player rankings by position and a list of the top players overall so you can keep up with your draft (Tony Romo is No. 22 overall; I think he should be higher).

In two weeks, we'll start a weekly section with features and information and statistics for every NFL game that week, and also have a weekly page geared toward fantasy football players.

My fantasy football league draft is this Sunday. It's a league I've been in for more than 20 years, and our team has even won a title or two. Frankly, we're overdue. I'll be using the NFL Weekly section to help with our draft. Hopefully, you'll use it with yours as well.

Finally, if you're interested in playing in the Pro Football Weekly's online league, go to their Web site (www.profootballweekly.com) and sign up. You can play against everybody, or create your own smaller leagues.

Good luck this season. Remember your top pick should be a running back, but your season is going to be made if you can find one sleeper in picks 5-8.

Young bloggers are here

2008-08-07T11:32:00.001-04:00

Last week, Bulletin President and Publisher Ellen Lind and I spoke to the Plainfield Rotary Club at the Riverview Restaurant. It was an intimate setting, with good company. And it was good to be able to talk to more residents about their paper and want they want and need from it.

One of the highlights of the evening was listening to the club salute two recent Plainfield High grads – Allison Hoffman and Meagan Marriott, both of whom will spend the next year overseas. Meagan is already in Switzerland, while Allison soon heads for Belgium. One of the Rotarians asked if we could update readers every few months with a story about the overseas adventures. I asked the girls if they would do it themselves through blogs.

Both agreed. Allison’s blog is now on our web site, and Meagan’s blog soon will be. It’s part of The Bulletin’s initiative to make your paper a partnership with the communities it serves.

If you have news tips, an idea for a feature or a blog you think might be of interest to our readers, let me know. Make a comment on this blog, or send me an e-mail direct at jkonrad@norwichbulletin.com

Fall in gas prices not news?

2008-07-30T09:15:00.000-04:00

I received this comment from an anonymous poster on another blog entry, and thought it merited a look:

“You've been running a series of stories over the past week or show, chronicling incremental gas price decreases over the past month.

“In today's most recent story, it's stated that gas has dropped 20 cents in the past three weeks. So that's a $4 savings for someone buying 20 gallons of gas. Hardly measurable, and not news.

“It again begs the question: How can someone who knows nothing about journalism and the news business run a newspaper?”

Well, $4 isn't “hardly measurable,” especially for residents in Eastern Connecticut trying to make every dollar count. That's an extra gallon of gas. And we did a thorough job of covering the rapid rise in gas prices. It's only fair we also cover the rapid decrease — whether it stops now, or is the start of another trend. We think that's news to local residents.

Sudoku update

2008-07-24T15:23:00.001-04:00

We recently changed the companies that provide our Sudoku puzzles. In that change came the elimination of the level of difficulty. That was a problem for several readers, and they let us know about it. By Monday, we'll have that difficulty rating back on the puzzle. Thanks for letting us know what you needed.

Commenting on the comments

2008-07-24T10:10:00.000-04:00

I received an e-mail from a reader concerned that someone on the story comments was wrong regarding facts and numbers for a local town, and reported it as abuse. I told the reader – a smart guy who is passionate about his town – that it didn’t constitute abuse, it was simply their version of the facts. He was free to offer what he saw as the correct version.

He disagreed, saying the Bulletin should ensure that everything on the story comments was entirely accurate. I told him that can’t happen – we can’t police every single comment for every fact, whether it’s a percentage, a timeframe or whatever. If he thought someone misread a document, or was misleading (intentional or not), it’s part of the conversation to make the correction himself. Readers by now can tell the difference between the staff story and the comments. If a commenter makes a conclusion or comment, that’s the start of a discussion.

The abuse button is for threats, personal attacks, etc., not because someone thinks the budget is going up 4 percent when it’s only going up 3.8 percent. We present the story comments as a tool for local conversation. We can’t and won’t be hall monitors.

What do you think?

The Redesign: Day 3, Stocking up

2008-07-18T16:46:00.002-04:00

We had three complaints regarding the redesign, which began Wednesday. By far the biggest was the loss of the stocks information. I have taken about 50 calls or e-mails myself, and talked or responded to all. They key point in almost all was they wanted that information on a daily basis – and they wanted it in print. Most either didn’t have a computer, or get that information from a computer.

Well, we listen to our readers and we respond quickly to them. We made a mistake, you told us, we fixed it. The stocks are coming back effective next week. Thanks for your feedback. It matters.

The other two issues? Folks wondered where the punctuation went. It was similar a minor computer issue that was quickly fixed. The last one was a lack of recipes to go with our big feature on corn.

Read more about it on Sunday in my column in the Views section.

The Redesign: Day 2, Return of the Punctuation

2008-07-17T09:32:00.000-04:00

As so many of you so correctly pointed out, we had a problem with our new story font that wasn't discovered until it actually started on the press (it looked fine on our computers and our page proofs). Not only were quotes and and apostrophes missing from the story text, so were long dashes. We worked through that issue yesterday with the great help of our Production Director, Mike White. It has been corrected. We have quotes, apostrophes and dashes today, and — hopefully — from now on.

We had a couple of other glitches that weren't so noticeable, but we tweaked those as well. And we are continuing to look at how some of the new elements — and subtractions — are being received in the community. As you know, nothing is ever permanent and we do listen to readers.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or comments about the new Bulletin.

The Bulletin’s redesign: Where are the quotes?

2008-07-16T12:37:00.000-04:00

Several readers have called in with their comments about our new look, which debuted today. They seemed, overall, to like the new look but saw some things missing. The biggest were some punctuation – primarily quotes and apostrophes.

Please trust us that they were there when the reporters wrote the stories and when the stories were edited. However, a computer glitch bumped them off as they made their final way to the press. We noticed that as soon as the papers came off the press early this morning, and spent several hours trying to find an answer. Our computer and production folks are working hard on it, and should have it fixed soon.

The other question was, what happened to the stocks? Well, as I mentioned in a column leading up to the change, by the time stocks are in the paper in the morning the numbers are at least 15 hours. We felt capturing trend news and urgent business news would give readers useful information.

As we talk to more readers, we will obviously make adjustments in the next few days and weeks. Please keep the feedback coming. It’s important as we make sure we’re the paper you want to read.

The Redesign: Another look

2008-07-16T00:11:00.001-04:00

David Arkin, the GateHouse executive who has been our liaison during the redesign process, has been working with The Bulletin the last two days leading up to tonight’s launch. He’s been blogging about the process as well.

An early peek

2008-07-15T19:05:00.000-04:00

I just got back from Danielson, where our Northeastern Connecticut Editorial Advisory Board got a look at a few of our redesigned pages, and had some questions and comments about them.

The pages seemed to go over well, and the members of the group said they are eagerly awaiting the entire product. They’ve been asked to give us a critique about the new look, and I’m asking the same from you. Let us know what you think. Comment on this blog, or e-mail me at jkonrad@norwichbulletin.com

Off and running

2008-07-15T14:54:00.001-04:00

The new-look pages of The Bulletin are starting to flow. Community Conversations Editor Ray Hackett and Design Editor John Meo have completed the Opinion page for Wednesday, the first day of our redesigned paper. Meo and Custom Publications Editor Tim Malcolm have finished work on the Living section and Custom Publications Designer Dan Goodwin is working through the new Go pages.

We got an earlier start today, obviously to ensure that all the bugs, kinks and questions have been worked out. It’s still more than nine hours to press start and a long way to go.

The Redesign: Tick, tick, tick

2008-07-14T18:14:00.002-04:00

The hours are counting down before the Bulletin's pages debut with a new look. Our copy editors in news, features and sports have been prepped, we've ironed out many of the bugs (there will be more, Im sure), and we're getting ready to launch.

In 24 hours, our folks will be working on the pages for real, and Wednesday's paper will have the new look. Be sure to check out the new look of our Home Base section, which runs Wednesdays.

Today's column talked about many of the new elements. Check it out. And when the redesign debuts on Wednesday, please make sure to let us know how you feel. E-mail me at jkonrad@norwichbulletin.com, or post a comment on the blog.

The Redesign: The Front Page

2008-07-10T19:33:00.008-04:00

Take a peek at our new Page 1 at left. As you can see, it’s got strong colors, darker and bolder headlines and easier-to-read news type – about 11 percent bigger than the type we currently use.

See the differences in the headline styles and the amount of white space. It's a cleaner, more-dynamic look. We've also added things like contact information with the bylines at the top of the story, and a cleaner index box – all headlines – to get you to other content inside the paper. Also, our breakout boxes – which feature statistics, contact information, what's next info, etc. – are bolder and pop off the page better.

What do you think? We’d like to hear your comments.

The Redesign: The Local page

2008-07-10T14:13:00.002-04:00

Among the other changes coming in our redesign, which debuts Wednesday, are new features in our Eastern Connecticut section. On Wednesdays, for example, we will have a Q&A feature with a prominent local newsmaker. This will give our readers more insight into local projects, developments and items of interest in the person's own words. The format will let you get to know the newsmakers a little bit better too.

Other weekly features will include a look at a local project (school construction, road repair, local law, etc.) and where it is in the process. If it's getting bogged down, we’ll say so. And if there is a big milestone coming, we'll note that too. We will also have a weekly look at a local student, and what makes them special.
Also in that section, the popular Profile of a Newsmaker will be on the front page and in color every day. The feature is a wonderful way of seeing how our neighbors are achieving and finding success. We thought they deserved more prominence.

The Redesign: The Business page

2008-07-09T17:53:00.001-04:00

Starting on Wednesday, the Bulletin will have a new-look Business page as part of our overall redesign. It will have more useful information, key news and local business folks in it. What it will have less of are stock listings.

Our current Business page is a few briefs, a short story and lists of stocks and mutual funds. But in our 24-7-365 world that information is available online and in real time. It doesn’t make much sense to run news that is 15 hours old every day. So instead we are running a market roundup and the stocks of local interest – those companies our readers have requested.

We understand that may be a change for some of our readers, and we don’t want to leave them hanging. We’ll also help you get to the live stock updates online through NorwichBulletin.com. We think that’s the best use of our news space.

If you have business news, send it news@norwichbulletin.com for inclusion in our new Business page.

Countdown to the new look

2008-07-07T16:02:00.001-04:00

Our new design appears in the Bulletin on July 16 – that’s only nine days away. As we get closer to the debut, we’ll show you some of the new things you’ll see and the new looks. One thing that will stay the same is Father Time. He’s that handsome, thoughtful fellow on our masthead, between the “Norwich” and the “Bulletin.” He made his debut more than 100 years ago as part of a larger pictorial, then was given his own spot in the early 1960s. Over the years, he’s been cleaned up and touched up. We thought about new looks for him, or to make him seasonal – the Googlification of Father Time would give him a Santa hat, or bunny ears or, for last weekend, an Uncle Sam hat. But the readers we talked to like Father Time just the way he is.

Another side of the story

2008-07-07T11:56:00.000-04:00

Our coverage of the death of a father and son in the Pachaug State Forest included some sharp reporting by Greg Smith over the weekend. Greg, our police/courts reporter, talked to officials about the difficulty of first responders getting into the forest in a timely manner because of a lack of communication towers there. If there is no cell signal, or a weak one, someone in an emergency can't get help. Greg's story used this specific example to point out a larger issue. It ran in Saturday's paper. I encourage you to take a look.

Big day in Preston

2008-07-01T10:54:00.002-04:00

Preston voters are at the polls today to determine which -- if any -- developer should be the preferred developer of the Norwich Hospital property. The Bulletin is updating news all day from the vote, and will have breaking news online as soon as the results are known. We'll also have a full report in Wednesday's paper.

Good news travels fast

2008-06-26T09:13:00.001-04:00

Lots of folks say they want good news about their communities, and one of the biggest complaints about the media is that we don’t provide enough of it. Take a look at today’s Bulletin as an example of how good news is portrayed.

The effects of Norwich’s Sachem Fund money is splashed across the front page. The impact of that money across the city is described in an alternative story format.

The Eastern Connecticut section tells about Scouts in Brooklyn fixing up an old well and a salute to Norwich’s Native Son, Mike Mathieu. The Sports section features a Q&A with Bob Demars, a longtime local coach and AD who retired this month.

Does the Bulletin also have stories about convenience store holdups, budget vote disputes and businesses in trouble with the state? We do. These stories have impacts on neighborhoods, towns and sometimes the region. But we want to ensure that the news is well-rounded. And we try to do that every day.

Never perfect

2008-06-20T08:43:00.002-04:00

A reader of the blog caught a big typo in the headline of the previous post – tassle instead of tassel. My bad for not using Spellcheck, but it also highlights one of the big issues readers with newspapers, including The Bulletin – spelling and grammar issues.

Our folks have several tools at their disposal, including a spelling and grammar check, online dictionary, Associated Press stylebook, etc. But our editors also are responsible for producing several pages a night – sometimes 5, 6, 7 or more – from scratch. That includes layout, headlines, photo selection and captions. At times, the Copy Desk seems more like a production desk.

Still, our paper is pretty clean. Our copy editors are diligent and thoughtful, and they take pride in their work. I mentioned to a relative the other day that we have about a million words in the paper each day (best guess). If we spell 10,000 of them wrong, it means we got 99 percent of them correct. And we don't get 1,000 or even 100 wrong every day.

So thanks for the tip about my typo, and please continue to let us know if you see an error. Please also understand we're not perfect, but we're pretty darn good.

Tassels and memories

2008-06-19T12:04:00.003-04:00

Graduations are a special, personal time for the thousands of local high school seniors and their families. The Bulletin’s biggest night for graduations is tonight – five of them, including Norwich Tech, Ellis Tech, Tourtellotte, Lyman Memorial and Windham. Our graduation coverage so far has been strong. For each school, we look to have a story, a first person from a graduating senior about his or her high school experience, a list of graduates and plenty of photos – in print and online. We hope we can capture this even for each senior, and give them another memento of their high school careers.

As a bonus, we have dozens more photos – and in many cases video – from the ceremonies on our Web site. For example, photographer Tali Greener posted 24 photos from Plainfield’s graduation Wednesday night in our photo gallery section. The galleries have been among our most-population web features. Check 'em out on our homepage on the right hand side.

The changes keep coming

2008-06-18T09:26:00.001-04:00

The Bulletin’s redesign is in high gear. We have prototypes for our front page and section fronts. We discussed them with our Northeast Editorial Advisory Board in Danielson on Tuesday afternoon. According to Community Conversations Editor Ray Hackett, we received generally strong reviews and some questions about some of the colors we are using. We’ll take that under advisement as we move ahead.

Today, I’ll be speaking to the Norwich Rotary about the redesign, which is slated for mid-July. I’ll keep you posted about their reactions, and I'll get some of the pages up for you to look at soon.

Big news day

2008-06-13T12:53:00.001-04:00

Our staffers are on the scene at the massive fire in Colchester. Our reporters have talked to witnesses to the start of the fire, and we have a photographer and videographer there as well. Click here to keep on top of the latest news.

We’ve been watching TV and while their coverage is at times strong (and the helicopters help), some misleading or incorrect info got our early as well. They have been quick to correct and update, however.

Also, NFA and Killingly hold their graduations tonight. Watch for several pages of coverage, including loads of photos, in Saturday’s Bulletin.

Seeing the future

2008-06-12T09:14:00.001-04:00

State legislators had to go deep into the night on an extra session to pass a moratorium on halting a July 1 increase in the state’s gas tax. This is a subject the Bulletin, and especially Community Conversations Editor Ray Hackett, have been focusing on for months. Here's our editorial from March, when gas was “only” looking at $3.40 a gallon.

Looking good

2008-06-12T09:06:00.004-04:00

The Bulletin’s redesign is moving along well. We are working with the GateHouse design team to create stronger pages – both in look and content – for our readers. Some of things you’ll see:

-- A Sunday Living section focused on travel, both from New England (good for the gas-sippers) and the big-splurge places from around the world.

-- An expanded High School Sports report every day, including more and bigger photos.

-- An expanded and more-prominent version of our Profile of a Newsmaker feature, one of the most popular, and long-running, features we have.

I’ll be showing our redesign concepts to the Norwich Rotary on Wednesday (noon at the Holiday Inn). If your group wants to weigh in, please let me know. Just respond to this blog entry.

The new look debuts in mid-July.

Comments are up and running

2008-06-11T15:57:00.000-04:00

Story Comments have returned and, as promised, they have added safeguards. All you need to do is register is provide a valid e-mail address and your name. You will then be sent a return e-mail to complete the registration with your user name and password.

Our new comments also ask that you respect the “pool rules,” which say, basically, be clean and be respectful. Enjoy the comments!

The Story Comments are coming! The Story Comments are coming!

2008-06-11T10:21:00.002-04:00

GateHouse is unveiling a new-look Story Comments at all of its sites, including The Bulletin, this morning. They will require registration, including information for us (name, e-mail) that won't be made public. That ensures folks have some anonymity but are still accountable. It also makes it easier to monitor and if necessary knock out any bad posters.

The Bulletin's comments have always been lively and active, but as you remember earlier this year they got ugly. We are working hard to ensure that won't happen this time. Be a part of the conversation, but be a grownup about it. See you on the comments side!

Hail to the new chief

2008-06-10T10:30:00.003-04:00

Congratulations are due to Brian Girasoli of our Sports staff. He was named president of the Connecticut Sports Writers' Alliance. That's the group that hosts the annual Gold Key dinner, which honors prominent sports figures from throughout the state. Brian covers a multitude of Sports for us, including golf, local colleges, participatory sports and more.

Wano in the morning

2008-06-09T14:37:00.002-04:00

I spent Friday morning in Willimantic as a guest on Wayne Norman's morning show on WILI (1400-AM). I hadn't seen Wano , left, in a long time. Besides being as handsome and charming as ever, he's a gracious host and we had fun. We talked about journalism in general and the Bulletin in particular. Some of the topics included local news and sports, the new media, our ownership by GateHouse and how things have changed since Wayne and I were both doing sports (he's still doing a great job with high schools, ECSU baseball, and UConn football and basketball). You can listen to our interview by clicking here.

And away we go!

2008-06-09T14:23:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my new blog. We'll talk about things going on in the Bulletin and in the community. The idea is to give readers a chance to how how and why we do things, to answer questions or to address trends and issues as they happen. E-mail me at jkonrad@norwichbulletin.com, or simply hit the reply button.