Joe Friday meets J.G. Wentworth

fan page” on Facebook and “LIKE” us.  Just hit the button on our website right under the heading “Get Social” on the right side of your screen and you’re done.   Effective Febuary 1st, we will only deliver breaking news and information through this page.  We will send out a brief statement and you will need to navigate to this website for details and updates. We will begin to utilize “Twitter” for this as well. Our regular Facebook page will be utilized in a different way.  We will be communicating with our Facebook friends on that page and use it truly for what it was designed for – social networking. Again to be redundant – our intent was to soft launch tomorrow seeking some family and friends to be our sounding board while we put everything in place.   February 1st  was our target date to start the movement. For more on my intent for this platform please click here to read a previous post, titled “Why.”  I, now more than ever before, believe in the power of social media. We will have access to area crime reports and they will begin this week. Our mobile crime and incident reporting has already begun.  We will use this carefully and judiciously.  The last thing we want is to create widespread panic when reporting a situation; nor do we want to disrespect someone’s dignity by showing someone in a terrible situation. You would not want to find out about a loved ones demise in this manner.   I reference this relating to the people who are accusing me of dropping the ball on yesterday’s logging accident in which a Franklin County man was killed while working on Kings Point Island.  I was aware of the situation from the moment it was dispatched.  I – and I alone – made the editorial decision hold off on publishing the story until authorities had the opportunity to notify the man’s family. As I have stated before, Chief Armstrong, Chief Atkins and Sheriff Pace have our full support.  We are here to report the facts.  We are here to offer them assistance in disseminating information in a manner that is unprecedented.  We will fully cooperate with their efforts to protect the public.  Sometimes, that means withholding information from you, our readers, in order for investigations, notifications, etc. to proceed in an uninterrupted and unbiased manner. One of the things that I hope this site is able to do is encourage people to respect our first-responders a little bit more.  Having spent time behind the badge myself – and with Chris’ unique situation – He’s the son of a correctional officer and a prison warden, the brother of a retired police detective and the uncle of three police officers – we at the Vicksburg Daily News believe that we should all respect our public servants and pray for their safety each and every day. Another thing that I’d like to see happen is really simple.  I’d like to see a reduction in the call volume to our E-911 office.  These people – public servants themselves – are inundated with calls on a daily basis.  They must treat each call as if it were a matter of life and death, because sometimes that’s the literal truth. 911 is not the stupid question hotline, by the way.  For those of you who would like to take the time, please look back at my earlier post,”Tips For dialing 911.” We will soon be starting a daily wrap up ,which will be a video newscast with news, weather, sports and other area information.  Consider it a 10 minute version of the nightly news! I hope you will allow us the opportunity to grow, and be a part of your life. We have some exciting things ahead.  Please spread the word and let others know that they need to experience the evolution of the revolution:  Peace, Love and Free News!!!]]]]> ]]>