Between Editions

Between Editions is on Twitter as “betweeneditions” all one word. If you aren’t familiar with Twitter, it basically shoots you tiny bits of information about stories or news events that we are covering here or at the News-Times.

Sign up. It’s free and kinda cool.

I believe we have five followers so far. I want more!

Or know someone who is? Let me know. jworthen@eldoradonews.com or (870) 862-6611

I hope all of you have had a chance to check out my Inauguration Blog. Posts on the main page may be sparse this week as I devote most of my attention to that site.

I’m chronicling the trip on the Inauguration Blog and want all of you to be involved.

I will do my best to bring you other news this week, though. I’m leaving Saturday for D.C. and will return next Thursday, blogging all the way.

On Jan. 12, 2005, just before midnight, the skies over Union County unleashed several decades of pent up fury, spreading a path of destruction from Junction City to Lawson — 26 miles as the crow flies. That’s how long the swath of damage was from the powerful F3 tornado.

The storm spared nothing in its path.

To commemorate the event, and to kick off a special page called “The Archive,” where previous work from the News-Times will be featured, I bring you the one year anniversary piece I wrote in 2006, along with the original articles and photographs that were taken the day after the storm hit.

Click here for access.

I’ve rolled out the official Between Editions Inauguration Blog to chronicle my trip to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20 to witness history. Click here for access, or simply find it in the list of pages at the top right of the main blog page.

What better way to ring the new year in than with Jimi Hendrix. Below is a medley of holiday songs, including Auld Lang Syne. Fantastic.

I’ve made a special page for the polls, as you will see at the top right, where Larry Singer’s Blog link is located. It’s called “Poll Booth.”

A reader pointed out that the main page loaded slower with the poll attached. I thought it would be a better idea to just go ahead and create a dedicated location for polls. So, that’s what I did.

… 60-Minutes-style mini-documentaries on local issues?

I don’t know if any of you remember the little film I made about the ghost hunters at the Rialto.

I thought it would be interesting to do a few pieces about relevant issues in town, most notably the rise and tribulations of the El Dorado Forward program.

Input, please.

Some still don’t quite understand the purpose of blogs. Think of this blog as the editorial page of the newspaper. It expresses my opinions, along with facts.

Editorials contain facts, but they are also interlaced with opinion. That is called Op-Ed.

I apologize if some are still confused on this matter, but I really don’t know how else to explain it.

News facts presented here are gathered from my own reporting and other sources. If I link you to an outside news source, or quote from an outside news source, I trust that the facts in that story are reliable, otherwise I would not link you to the article or tell you about it.

Within the post containing that link, I usually insert my own opinion. That’s the purpose of blogging.

I hope that readers of this blog know that they can trust facts they see here, and I am sorry if some don’t agree with the opinions I interject from time to time. That’s how blogs work. See the Arkansas Times Blog as one of the best examples of blogging in the state.

Many other news organizations allow their reporters to keep blogs, and all of them express their opinions about the news.

Thanks for reading.

It’s been a hectic couple of days, which I’m sure you will know if you’ve read the paper. I’ve been pulling double duty covering the Smackover School District’s crisis.

Also, I’m leaving for Savannah and Atlanta, Ga., tomorrow, then on to the Carolinas.

Hopefully I’ll have time to post something while I’m gone. I’ve asked a coworker to keep things rolling in my absence.

Thanks for being patient, and I’m sorry the posting has been slim lately. Stay with us.