New Item hits the streets

The days are truly starting to run together as the pace gets a little more hectic as the amount of time I've been on the job increases.

Today, the fifth paper since I started as Editor of the Item hits the stands, and I am really excited about this issue. This week you'll be introduced to three new writers for the Item.

On the front page, our main story this week focuses on the Schuylkill River Sojourn, now in its tenth year. I remember this event when it just started. There is a first-hand recollection by a good friend and old colleague of mine, Lisa Price, easily the best outdoors writer I've met in my 10-year career.

Lisa has taken the Sojourn in the past and reflects on her experience for you to enjoy.

She seemed to think otherwise, but Lisa's been published in numerous national publications, and it's a real pleasure to be working with her again.

Also, I must thank the people at Schuylkill Headwaters Association for sharing their spectacular photos of Sojourns past with me and our readers.

Competing up until the end with the Sojourn for top of the paper is the incredible story of Hamburg's Vietnam War hero, Master Sgt. Richard Etchberger. If I were to tell his story here, this blog would turn into a big spoiler for the paper.

In summary, though, Etchberger fought in that conflict as a covert operative for the Air Force, working in Laos to secure a radio post so America's Operation Rolling Thunder could pinpoint airstrikes against the North Vietnamese.

Etchberger's position was under constant attack and it eventually fell to the communist enemy, but not before one of the more gallant acts you'll hear about in your lifetime. Now, Etchberger is up for the most prestigious awards given to a serviceman, the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Now to the other two newbies at The Item ...

Sarah Morawczynski of Reading joined up here last week and has a story on a local man who's touring with a national choir and will be performing summer in Texas. Sarah's going to be heading to her first municipal meeting this week and is anxious about the opportunity to write.

Sarah also joined me at work on Sunday - yeah, work on a Sunday - to get her feet wet in the deep-end only pool that is our page design program, Quark XPress.

Also, Ethan Hall is going into his sophomore year at Gettysburg College, and in this week's edition he's got a preview of this weekend's Art Stroll in downtown Hamburg. Ethan lives in Kutztown when he's not in school.

Both these newbies did a great job on their first assignments and you can expect to see their names in The Item more in the future so long as I didn't scare them away.

As always, there are the regular features which made their way into the paper this week and as always I look forward to hearing the feedback the paper's readers have, so feel free to unload.

Thanks and happy reading!

A trip along Old 22.

I may have found my new, favorite country road.

I grew up (to a degree) along Sweet Arrow Lake Rd., outside Pine Grove in Schuylkill County, and though it was like a PennDOT paved prison to a waiting-to-break-out teen, now that I'm a bit more mobile I've learned to appreciate the serenity (Serenity, Now!) and the importance these roads have on our communities.

Before 10 days ago, I would have had a better chance of hitting Old 22 on the map with a dull dart than I would have finding it in the car, and it happened to be the road I leave work on every day! Thanks to Shawn Fitzpatrick and Google Maps, I found it, and found it to be "quite breathtaking" (that's two Seinfeld references in one post and going for the cycle).

On my way back from Upper Bern Elementary, I decided to veer off-course and do a little exploring. Keep in mind, I am a bit terrified (even with a keen sense of direction) of exploring too much of Northern Berks for fear of ending up in northern Adams County or western Lebanon County.

Luckily I had the BerksMont-issue Nikon on hand, and its battery was full and decided to snap a few pictures of my trip. I've converted them into desktop backgrounds for you computers. Right now, however, they'll only look best if your screen resolution is set at 1024x768, but they may work if you just Right-click and set it as your background.

Let me know if these work, or if "they lack." These are the first three in the series. I have a few more to add, and will do it Wednesday ...

Click here to see this image by its lonesome (much easier to set as your background)

Click here to see this image by its lonesome (much easier to set as your background)

Click here to see this image by its lonesome (much easier to set as your background)

And it already feels like Thursday.

Who wants to talk about a case of the Mondays?

At The Item, it's production day ... and boy are my arms tired. Today, and select hours over the weekend, most of the paper comes together on the computer, to the layperson. Toward the end, my eyes get a little bleary and my saving grace is something called a "soft proof."

By the end of the day, I'm so tired, I'm wired. It's a strange feeling. I've gone on very little sleep since Saturday night but all I can do is think about the next paper. Maybe that's because it's due on Friday this week, not Monday, because of Memorial Day.

Don't fret. There will still be plenty of time to digest the latest Item.

In it, you will read about the fly controversy in Upper Bern Township. Being from Schuylkill County, I've taken in my share of breathtaking vistas, but the backdrop of the mighty Appalachian Mountains is quite impressive in this valley.

But for Gerald Lutz and neighbors along Mountain Road, they're finding it increasingly difficult to enjoy their scenic panorama as a nearby chicken farm's malfunctioning pipe has caused all sorts of havoc.

Normally the chicken farmer would take the fowl manure and sell it, but this broken pipe emptied into the manure, rendering it worthless, so the farmer spread the waste in fields adjacent to the properties along Mountain Road.

I got "lucky" and visited with the Lutz family on Sunday afternoon. It had been cloudy all weekend and according to the Lutz' the flies hadn't been as bad, but by the time I arrived, the sun began to peek through the sky and suddenly, the flies swarmed.

Like a fool, I left the window in my car open a crack, and this morning I had about 50 to 100 winged friends joining me for the ride down 61 from Pottsville. They were still there when I left work this evening, shortly after 7.

But my 50 to 100 is nothing compared to what people living in Upper Bern Twp. are enduring. Fly strips and traps are no use. To think this has been an on-and-off issue for nearly 20 years is almost maddening, and a shame.

My story focuses on these residents' fight for some help from anyone, and I focus on the most recent township supervisors' meeting (from last Wednesday) and the frustration that's clearly evident in voices of the residents.

You'll also read about the upcoming District playoffs (soccer, baseball and softball) and a wrap up of the District 3 track and field championship from this past weekend. Local athletes brought home a lot of hardware from Shippensburg, to say the least.

Of course, since the paper only comes out once a week, you can return here for scores of local interest as they occur.

Happy reading!