Public Meeting 1

I went to the Mango Recreation Center for a public meeting regarding the road expansion for MLK and Williams road. I expected the meeting to be packed with citizens looking to express their views on the construction slated to begin early next year.

The actual meeting was hosted by engineer/ project manager Ben Keniesly and lasted a mere 20 minutes. There was really no need for me to take off from work as I did. If I had known the meeting would be so short I would have scurried over on my lunch break and been back to work within an hour.  Keniesly showed a video explaining what the project is about. The county is looking to reduce heavy traffic congestion by implementing a $4 million project to expand Williams Road into a four lanes. I did learn that the county will pay the property owners for the land they build over. Unfortunately property owners aren't concerned with the little pay out they receive from the county, they are more concerned with the depreciated value of their land that the new four lane intersection will cause.

I could count on two hands how many people actually attended the meeting. Seven of the people in attendance were USF students I recognized.  Most trying to complete a public meeting assignment for their photo journalism class, the other a reporter for the Oracle. The three property owners who attended the meeting were not very happy with the counties plans.  Keniesly, got an ear full. Both property owners offered an alternative solution. I didn't think either was realistic and I could tell by the response  Keniesly gave to their alternative options, that he didn't think their solution would be entertained either. The first property owner suggested that the county buy his entire property for $1 million and he would go away quietly. If the county offered me a million dollars I'd walk away with out a peep as well. That obviously wasn't going to happen. I was shocked when the gentleman left angry when  Keniesly didn't accept his offered right away. The other property owner suggested that they do the expansion on the other entrance of the street. Granted the county approved a detailed $4 million expansion plan. I know the purpose of these public meetings are to address the concerns of residence but it seemed more like the purpose of this meeting was to convince residence to accept the project.  Keniesly and the property owners went back an forth for about half an hour. As I suspected, no resolution came about.

The only residences/owners who attended the public meeting where those who's pockets would be directly affected from the expansion. Like the old saying goes, money talks and when you dip into someones pockets they begin talking. There were no residence in attendance who spoke up for the expansion, I guess in their absence the county assumes they appreciate the road expansion to ease traffic even though the residence at the meeting threaten to obtain lawyers. But, I do appreciate that these public meeting exist. Its so important to allow people to have a voice.

Death: catergorized and easily referenced

I started USF as a pre-med major. I wanted to be a cardiologist and save people with a broken heart (bad pun I guess). I realized toward the end of the second year of my studies that I didn't love medicine. I never wanted to be one of those doctors whose job, was just a job. The idea of death never bother me. We live, we make our mark on the world, and then we die. I never put much thought into what happens to the bodies we leave, once we cross over to the other side.

My public affairs class final field trip is the one I would deem the most memorable. We went to the local Medical Examiners office where Dr. Vernard Adams talked to us about the ME's role in society and then took my group on a tour of the facilities. The ME has two missions; to investigate unnatural death and dispose of unclaimed bodies. The ME's office is a business and its run just like that. Death is categorized for easy reference. For instance if you die due to a homicide your case file will have a red tab on it, white for natural causes, black for suicides, etc. Files are kept in the main administrative building, the bodies are kept in the next building over. Some unclaimed bodies will be donated to  the anatomical board for medical studies. The ME's office receives over 200 unclaimed bodies per year. Surprisingly only a couple of those bodies will be accepted by the anatomical board. Even they have stipulation. For example the bodies they accept can't be more than 10 days old, have no identifying marks, no mutilation, etc. As grotesque as it may sound, the anatomical board seeks out the "perfect" dead body. But what happens to the others? Well as a paid service by the county, the ME office must dispose of them. In an effort to save money, all bodies disposed of by the county are cremated. The ashes hitch a ride with a paying customer for crematory services and are dumped over the gulf.

In the file room there a stacks of case files dating back over 30 years. The information in the case files are public record as long as the case is not open as an active homicide. However, autopsy photos are no longer public records. Dr. Adams reminds us to make sure we ask for the entire case file during our journalist careers instead of just the autopsy report. Dr. Adams encourages us to get familiar with the ME's investigative offices. There we could look over files and check on the progress of cases (that are not open homicide of course). Typewritters are still used to fill out death certificates and other standard forms. I didn't know companies still manufacture type writers. The most startling fact I walked away with was that the ME sees about 150-200 suicides per year and about 80 homicide. Dealing with love, finances, family and friends are the things that make life so hard, but I never imagined the rate for suicide being higher than homicides.

After the tour of the administrative offices we went to the next building which was the toxicology lab. There we learned that the entire building does not circulate air. The air in the building is all pushed up and out through ventilaters in the ceiling. Of course they keep it pretty cool inside which explains having an electric bill of over $25,000 per month. Next stop, the morgue. Initially, Dr. Adams wasn't going to take us inside the morgue because an autopsy was being performed. When we saw the other group inside, he agreed to take us in. Dr. Adams warned us that if we couldn't stomach it, not to go inside. We all put our brave caps on and entered the morgue. The body on the table didn't look real. In fact it reminded me of the bad Halloween decor I'd seen at Busch Gardens once. The organs had already been removed and the blood was already drained out. I could see the inside of the cranium and the empty torso. The thought which kept runnig through my mind; God is so amazing to have created such complicated beings both inside and out. We also went into the freezer where the other bodies were kept. Dr. Adams explained that the office tried to complete autopsies within 24 hours of a body arriving but as long as its kept in the freezer it will not rapidly decompose. Another interesting fact, the more fat you have on your body, the faster you decompose because your body is more insulated.

Like I said the beginning, this was definitely the most memorable field trip. I enjoyed all parts of the field trip. Coming from a medical background and having a career focus on journalism the lecture on public records kept my attention as well as the tour of the medical facilities. But, if asked to take the tour around the facilities again, I would politely decline.

APME-Blog Live



I'm excited to participate in a live blog forum for the APME convention at the  Poynter Institute in beautiful St. Petersburg Florida. As a native of Florida I'm often taken back by the beauty of this state. The institute is located off the water across from USF St. Pete campus. I'm honored to be here.

Jennifer Conklin is speaking on behalf of the Mcclatchy Southeast virtual newsroom which consist of 4 newspapers combining information to deliver news as a single virtual outlet. The outlet provides news to Biloxi, Bradenton, Columbus, and Macon. The newspaper has 2 designers that design for the 4 newspaper outlets which cut cost. They now have a special session, Bradenton had a pink page of newspaper for Breast cancer awareness. One news outlet completed the section and then shared it amongst the other outlets. Other outlets had the takes of putting their own advertising which saved money and time.


In just about every business, corporations are looking to deliver the same great quality work while operating with a more cost efficient budget. The theme of the convention today circles around that concept. How can media continue to thrive, especially newspapers, while operating with a smaller budget? The answer....convergence. Not only are newspapers now discussing virtual print but they are also figuring out ways to deliver news to the same areas but at a cheaper cost. The Newport Daily news was able to save money while cutting some jobs by sharing some of the job responsibilities of their daily operations with the Chicago Press. Chicago produces, designers and outputs the paper for the Daily Press. The Daily Press will no longer have to decided which nation world articles to report. Chicago Press produces 80% of the Daily Presses information. Chicago handles the editing, final slotting, and content. Newport News Daily Press produces 20% of the papers outlet which save on cost and time.

Up next is Media General
There is a virtual consolidated editing center. They are installing CCI which went live in Tampa last week. All copy editing will be done in Tampa and Virginia for all media generals companies. All editing teams can communicate with each other when editing for multiple outlets. Media General is relocating the Richmond center to become a remote editing center. The idea is to get papers out at the most cost beneficial ways. They will be testing AOL video camera's so the news organization can have virtual meetings about. All print articles for Media General will go through the two editing centers.

The convention is being held to protect the journalism from suffering the effect of the downward economy as well as the growing the growing use of online news people. The fact is that people are choosing to get their news from more immediate sources such as web content. News paper sales are dwindling and newspapers have had to come up with more ways to stay afloat.

Steve Andrews

I decided on a career in journalism because I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to give a voice to those who otherwise wouldn't have one. Meeting Steve Andrews today reminded me just exactly how much journalist could make a difference.

Andrews showed my public affairs reporting class a investigative stories he's done in the past. The most compelling story was that of an elderly autistic man who was allowed to lay in a nursing home as a cancerous sore festered on his face. Andrews gave the class tips on how he was able to use public records to expose the wrong doing of corporations and people in power.

I learned that if wrong doing is done on a computer purchased with tax dollars, any information on that computer becomes public records. The findings of investigations performed by state agencies are also public records. Andrews also gave my class some vital advise, when it comes to your method of investigative reporting we also must ask ourselves, how is our method going to look in court? I've seen aggressive reporters before, they are often looked at as the bully which people often try to avoid. Some find it a compliment but to me, there's a difference between earning a respectful name for yourself and bullying it out of people.

I greatly enjoyed out time spent with Mr. Andrews, it was trully an honest to sit in on his lecture.

To the library we go...

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that as a journalism student, it has been quite some time since I've stepped foot in our school library. It was evident by the look on my face when I saw how much the library had been remodel. But nonetheless, I didn't go to the USF's library to check out a book, or do research on a term paper. I was at the library to learn how to do detailed research using the academic databases provided to the student at the school.

Our teacher for the tour was Cherl Mccoy, the coordinator of Collection Development and Government. She opened our eyes to a number of useful websites to help us on our way as young journalist. Mccoy also went as far as to create a special link of government databases and useful site specifically for my public affairs class.

I have to do a lot of research on a public official for a report. For a while I've been a little apprehensive about starting. We learned about so many areas to do research in and finding a step 1 has always been the most difficult part of research for me. With so many angles I stare at the person's name and wonder where should I begin. With Mrs. Mccoy's help, I realized that the best place to get organized and really dig deep is with my own school. Before my public affairs reporting class, I would have began this monumental project by typing my person's name into google.com and going from there. As the weeks go by, I've realized more and more how empowered I''ve become. I graduate in December and I feel more confident in my ability to go out and do the job I've worked so hard to be able to do. I've documented the web links provided to us my Mrs. Mccoy and I plan to keep them for a lifetime, because you never know when they will come in handy. Now granted I want to work as a producer but even a producer has to know where to look. As I continue in my life's journey whether I live here in Florida; with its open Sunshine Laws, or move out of state; where I'll have to work extra hard to access information, I know that I have knowledge and know how to succeed.  

Clerk of Court

I had quite in interesting time in Downtown Tampa last week. Although I spent 40 minutes in the Florida sun walking around downtown, I never actually made it to meet my class at the county center. I was inside the correct building, I even later found out that I was pretty much at the door, but was redirected by security who told me on board members were allowed in the conference that my class was located in. Fortunately for me, the field trip was recorded and placed online. Thank goodness for Professor Thelen preparedness...

I recognized her face from the website. In fact when you log on to http://www.hillsclerk.com/ Pat Frank's face is the first thing you see. Frank has been extremely influential in the faster progression of time that documents are processed. Her office began coordinating with the sheriffs office in order to process documents faster. Inmates used to wait months to be transferred from county jails (at tax payer expense) to state prison due to the slow process of paperwork.

After watching the lecture I spent some time on the clerk's website. For a whopping $109.00 and sealed with true love's kiss, I could tie the not. No glitz, glamour, or stress of wedding planning...sound enticing? The website also has a full list of fees the court charges to file certain cases, that helpful in asking oneself is it worth it to pursue legal action in certain cases. Family law is definitely intriguing. Its interesting to see if someone is paying their child support on time. If you're dating someone and you happen to know their SSN and case #, you can find our if they're really paying their child support on time. There is also a link to the office of Vital statistics. Which comes in handy when needing to pull up Birth and Death Certificates, marriages licenses and of course, divorce.

Due to volumes of paper work needed in complex cases attorney's can upload pleadings automatically to official court files through e-filings. The clerk of court has become more efficient and organized through the use of technology according to Pat Frank during her lecture. There have been a number of services and offices created to help people who are need of general information as well as young reporters who need access to vital accurate information to inform the public.

I thought my class had pretty much learn most of what we'd need to know to be good investigative journalist until I really took the time to explore all the information made available to the public through the county clerks office.

Strongest Survive

Have you ever seen the television series The Wire? The series follows the lives of drug dealers, drug businessmen, city council members, and the everyday drug users on the streets of Baltimore Maryland. When detectives have a difficult time catching the big money dealers they learn the best way to get evidence; follow the money.

Preston Trigg, Director of Administration and Special Projects at the Hillsborough County Tax Collector's office agrees. As young journalist he advised us that following the money is the best way to get a strong story. The Tax collectors office receives and distributes over 2 billion dollars annually. Best of all there a record of every dollar sent and received. During election years politicians are always promising to lower this tax or end that tax. Looking into a particular politicians record at the tax collector office would certainly help. Why would I trust a politician to lower taxes if that person doesn't pay their taxes or even vote. Everyday i attend class I learn more about what information is public knowledge by Florida's Sunshine laws. Being able to access such information to be a good journalist is necessary, I often wonder how difficult it is for journalist in states that don't have such laws as the Sunshine laws available to us here in Florida.

Its also important for potential homeowners to take advantage of the information available to them at tax collectors office.  Understanding property tax information can really help homeowners as the budget for their future. Homeowners can also protect themselves by viewing property tax records to see if the home they are looking to purchase is being priced over what its worth or if their has been significant damage to the home that an appraiser may have missed.

Its so important to ask questions. As journalist we can't be to shy to say "can you explain  that to me?" Its also important to talk to everyone. The secretary, janitor, anyone that people generally don't pay attention to, can probably provide you with the most information. So its important not to disregard someone because of their job status. You never know if becoming that persons associate opens the door for you to obtain a lot of helpful information.