The death of our prosecutor, Brian Donnelly

How did the Kalkaska community respond to the news of Brian Donnelly's death?

No mention of the recall effort facing Brian was made by The Leader in print, while we broke the news of his death and in articles thereafter, but it is (or was) certainly on the minds of community members.

Brian was Kalkaska's prosecuting attorney, until the day he died. As I wrote in my last column, Brian was a man wearing a target on his back. Still, he persisted with his daily responsibilities. Whenever I "grilled" him, asking tough questions posed by the recall's proponents, Brian never faltered. It's true he seemed a bit impatient and a tad frustrated, but I couldn't see any significant effects on him, resulting from the recall process.

As an occupational hazard, Brian upset people. He prosecuted people involved in criminal activity; he made enemies. But, from my standpoint, he did his job as prosecutor.

Now that an interim successor has been named, Assistant Prosecutor Kirk Metzger, it will be interesting to see how the judicial system in Kalkaska will be influenced. Though, Metzger is only temporary - the court's decided the people are the one's entitled to select their county's prosecutor.

Regardless of how anybody felt of Brian Donnelly, his sudden death stunned many throughout the community, and, those who knew Brian well, paid their respects during his funeral service. As so many people have suggested, Brian Donnelly will be missed.

Kalkaska County preparing for year(s) to come?

While the rest of the world counts seconds ticking down to 2012, Kalkaska County may be counting the number of trailing zeroes that make up its debt amount.

Still considered financially solvent (perhaps with a gracious curve and bite of lip), the county has a great deal to ponder if it wants to avoid the dreaded Financial Manager from Lansing marching through the county doors and carelessly chopping heads.

Alas, a major budget meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, Dec. 28, just before the calendar rolls over to the big twenty-twelve.

County commissioners took very public steps to make the daunting task of completing a balanced budget seem possible, or, perhaps easy. Ha! Good luck! The main objective of hiring "The Axe Man" from downstate was to aid in meetings, such as the one everybody is looking forward to tomorrow. For that reason, the county felt it appropriate to allocate $10,000 for an outsider to gather some documents and talk to department heads throughout the county - with the noted exception of the prosecutor (I won't go there) - ultimately rendering his views on where the county should make budget cuts. And what was this glorified, ultra-super-extraordinarily important recommendation? Seize outstanding assets for repayment (i.e. the county-owned Kaliseum) and take money from the county's law enforcement departments.

"OK?"

"OK."

So, not too much of a big surprise were Axe's suggestions for the upcoming budget, but the county has much more to consider than pulling allocations from two county departments. And, if those two departments could solely balance the county's budget, then they must be incredibly well-off... Right? If you can't decide for yourself, here's some hints: 1) the county jail is crumbling, 2) crime rates anyone? 3) many feel the prosecutor isn't doing his job, therefore he is in the middle of recall efforts - just to name a few.

The only thing left for Kalkaska County residents is to attend the meeting tomorrow and watch what the commissioners can do to conjure a miracle for a once thriving community that has fallen into a fiscal calamity (that's a hyperbole - I wouldn't exactly say "calamity").

As always, The Leader will provide coverage of the county's meeting, scheduled for 4 p.m. at the county government center on Birch Street. Maybe we'll see you there?

See you soon. 

Bryce Martin - Leader & Kalkaskian Editor

A Commercialized Christmas While North Korea Weeps

We don't get the opportunity to cover hot-button issues facing the world or nation, as we are localized to Kalkaska, so to blog on nationally topical matters is a great way to broaden our reach -- and we shall do so from time-to-time. And there's no time like the present.

BLACK FRIDAY: A PRELUDE TO CHRISTMAS?

Christmas is four days away, but don't jump up, get your car keys and head out to the busy stores just yet.

While it has become trite for columnists and news correspondents around the country to preach about how commercialized Christmas has been, for so many years now, it truly is evident in every way: retailers have turned a religious, family holiday into one when people trample each other, pepper spray innocent strangers and cause intense traffic jams for nothing more than to save a few bucks on trivial items.

Despite that fact, I joined the masses on Black Friday this year, and last.

Even so, I consider myself  a man apart from those searching for the lowest prices on the lowest products of importance, because I, perhaps selfishly, merely bought things for... myself (and my spouse). Not items to gift-wrap and save for Christmas, more like items to use immediately: new bed sheet-set with comforter, a couple sale-priced DVDs, and a microwave.

To me, it was simply another day of shopping, though the surroundings were vastly different.

I meandered quietly into a brawling, vicious department store and slowly perused items for purchase, as I would anytime during the year. AND, I didn't rush out my door -- this year people begin at 11 p.m. Thursday evening -- to stand, half-frozen, waiting to grab something worthless. My purchases, which I neither trampled nor pepper-sprayed to obtain, were items useful to me and purchased much later in the day.

Nah, my Christmas shopping has yet to be completed. No worries.

So, Christmas as a commercial ploy nowadays? You bet. But those out there, I'm sure, still recognize the significance of Christmas, regarding its religious aspect. Everyone loves gifts, but, as a 24-year-old, it's a shame even I've noticed people are going much, much too far off the True Meaning of Christmas path. Let's hope future generations -- as trends unfortunately seem to follow -- doesn't progress even further away from Christmas's true meaning. Be with family, friends and surround yourself with warmth, comfort and love. Include some gifts, a midnight mass (if you so choose), an appropriate dinner (or brunch), and that's a well-rounded Christmas.

Even if you're not a religious person, Christmas should have a special meaning to everyone who celebrates the holiday, but, excluding small children, it shouldn't revolve solely around materialism.

One place Christmas is most certainly not celebrated is North Korea.

On Saturday, one of the world's most-feared leaders died, at 69 years old: Kim Jong Il, after nearly 18 years as Supreme Leader of North Korea.

Still considered a country relatively few Americans know beyond media depiction, despite journalist Diane Sawyer's well-rounded, exploratory journey in and around the secretive country a few years ago, Kim was a figure of absolute power to his people and many in the West deemed his "teachings" and style of ruling as brainwashing.

In the desolate country, there is a sort of tyrannical repression, with relatively no public freedoms as the government has mostly complete control over all aspects of life.

Kim's son, Kim Jong Un, was immediately announced as "The Great Successor," during the announcement of his father's death, which was reportedly caused by a massive heart attack while Kim was traveling outside Pyongyang via train.

Though peace should be a requisite for the world, it is famously seldom obtained. The death and subsequent transfer of power to Kim's son could mean a positive change for the blind-followers of North Korean government. But, as the saying goes, like father, like son.

See you soon. 

Bryce Martin - Leader & Kalkaskian Editor

Leaderland: A Digital Frontier

So I felt the best post to begin our joyous, exciting journey into blogland would be an explanation of some current and future goals for we at The Leader. Let's begin with the column I wrote, which was published in print today:

It's Wednesday morning and you grab your copy of The Leader and peruse the latest news. There are many headlines leaping out at you, but what most strikes your interest?
After you skim through a handful of news stories, potentially unworthy of your little time, you find something you actually want to take the time to read.
Or, you find nothing and mindlessly toss the edition in the wastebasket or recycling bin, whichever you so choose.
Then a question enters your mind: Where's coverage of that big accident yesterday keeping me from getting to work on time. You would think they would have wanted to cover that, you say to yourself.
You continue with your day, somewhat unaffected, merely an afterthought to you now.
That's the unfortunate truth with print journalism, more prevalent for a smaller weekly publication such as The Leader – we cannot get the latest, most up-to-date, in-depth coverage on stories interesting to our readers out in the timeline we desire.
That is, until one considers the printed copy now only a small part of what our news organization, in particular, has to offer in regards to content.
The movement of focus from print to pure digital media has been in the works for many years, but only recently to widely-attract online audiences.
After John Paton became the new CEO of Journal Register Co. – The Leader's owner and publisher – a few years ago, Mr. Paton piloted the company into the national media spotlight for its dedication to Digital First initiatives. It wasn't a gimmick, it wasn't a sales technique – it was a true move that would quickly become the heart and soul of a medium becoming antiquated.
Well, maybe not antiquated, but considering the plethora of digital and online tools available, print media was rapidly dwindling and under constant scrutiny.
There are two kinds of people – which I've found true in my experience: those who like having a printed publication in their grasp, and those who want to receive their news digitally, on a 24/7 basis, wherever they may be – establishing the online audience.
It's like the debate over books: would you rather have the hard or softbound copy in your hands or read it on a device, such as an iPad or Kindle?
In J-School, I was constantly reminded modern-day journalists must become a "jack of all trades." They must be able to photograph their own material, shoot and edit video, utilize the latest Internet resources available, and, obviously, still write very well. They must be able to take on any person's duties, at any given time.
For that kind and constant reminder from my journalism professors, I am grateful, as it has served me well throughout my career journey, as it is absolutely true.
Considering many factors, such as the realization anyone can now relay news, commonly referred to as citizen journalism, newspapers around the nation realized something had to be done to solidify their future role in delivering news, to tell stories they felt needed to be shared. Mr. Paton, and his team, delved into the recent establishment of Digital First Media – a conglomeration of sorts incorporating Journal Register Co. and Media News Group, which owns many large-scale publications, including The Detroit News and The Denver Post.
Their aim is to ensure audiences understood they were neither taking digital media lightly, nor slacking on furthering its reach and possibility.
My predecessor continually explained our county possesses a drastically small online audience, but this – whether it true or false – did not stop my own team and myself from utilizing the tremendous availability of online tools to deliver news to our public.
With that, we now are able to keep our audience up-to-date on virtually everything going on within the community, state and even nation, all-the-while doing it in a style sure to become the norm for other media outlets, if it has not already. We do it on The Leader's website, with video and photos; through Facebook, with posts to establish community interaction; and Twitter, to send out news condensed to 140 characters and on a constant basis.
It's easy for us to see the effect digital media has rendered in our own backyard. And it's been a positive experience for all involved.
While we strive to further our digital outreach, we continue to put out a publication each week to inform, as well as to attract those to experience our online content. No matter what happens in the future, there will always be a niche – small or large – for print.
It's not the death of print – it's the birth of something bigger and better."

Well, there you have it - Who We Are at The Leader.

The current goal I am personally working on is - a "movement" set forth by my boss, Morning Sun Executive Editor Rick Mills - to establish a community editorial board. Such a simple way to bring community engagement back to our paper. We don't ever want to exclude any comments or ideas from our public, because that is who we serve.

I'm planning to have a first editorial board meeting sometime in the beginning of January, and I have to say I'm pretty excited to see what our public can come up with - what exactly they want to read. While plans are a bit vague as of this moment, its establishment will help The Leader gauge exactly what our readers want; if nothing else, to further interact with our community and throw some ideas around.

Stay tuned for more info.

See you soon. 

Bryce Martin - Leader & Kalkaskian Editor

Greetings!

Greetings fellow bloggers and interested readers. 
We are the Leader and Kalkaskian, a weekly print publication - owned by Journal Register Company - located in Kalkaska, Mich. We serve Kalkaska and Antrim Counties, but incorporate news from all over Michigan.We look forward to sharing our blogs with you and, going forward, will add blogs from the community, as well as a sports blog and others.

See you soon. 

Bryce Martin - Leader & Kalkaskian Editor