Handcuffed in Hanover

Working moms

2009-05-05T23:25:40Z

Today I was assigned a story for our Mother's Day issue with a crime twist. It's something I've thought about for a long time, but don't know how fitting it will be for Sunday's issue. I'll be meeting with mothers who work at the Adams County Children's Advocacy Center and deal wtih issues of child abuse day in and day out. As a young adult, cases involving child abuse always hit me more than other ones I work on, and I don't have to worry about children of my own. I can't imagine how these women see what they see every day, then go home to their own kids. I'm afraid that if I were in their positions, I would smother my children while trying to protect them. I would be that Mom putting the parental block on the TV and Internet. I wouldn't trust easily and I would constantly be in fear for the safety of my own. Perhaps in a way though, we should honor these mothers. The one's who see the worst in people, but don't let it affect their children. Of course, it has some adverse affect on their lives, and they can't leave it all in the office ... but they continue to live their lives.

With warmer weather comes...

2009-04-29T01:21:46Z

Ok, so things have been really busy at the Evening Sun and I have totally abandoned my blog for months. My goal now is to write at least once a week, even if it's not crime related. Crime-wise, we've had a lot of fatal accidents recently. Three in the past 5 days. In most cases, the drivers aren't wearing seatbelts, or it involves motorcyclists without helmets. I spoke with a state police trooper today about how frustrating those cases are. In today's case - a head-on collision where the driver was hanging out the window - a seatbelt might not have saved him. But the trooper told me with motorcycles, helmets are always what decides life or death. When someone has a helmet on, he said it can be bad, leading to a vegetative state, but without it's almost always death. It seems as though when the weather warms up, we see more and more of these fatals and it's always so sad. Standing at the scene writing notes about the cars involved, I can usually make an accurate guess as to if the driver will make it. I think that means I've been doing this too long. It also makes it harder when I have to call the family and I know how bad it looked. I'm just getting back into the swing of things after a 5-day break and trip to Florida. While things are stressful thanks to the economy and the current state of newspapers, I've decided to live each day to the best of my ability - in work and outside of it. I know I have a tough job, but I can try to do it the best I can to help out the paper itself and the people I come into contact with.

Heroin out of control

2009-01-29T21:13:37Z

Ironically, as I work on my heroin series, the Adams area has a huge bust of a county-wide heroin network. If it wasn't obvious before now, York and Adams counties are suffering from a heroin epidemic that police officials are trying to break down one by one. Operation Smack Down netted 19 arrests and got more than an ounce of heroin off the street. The Adams County Drug Task Force worked for six months to get these arrests, seemingly led by Conewago Police Detective William Hartlaub. In the extended charging documents I've been reading through, these alleged deals went down where most of us would least expect it - the Rutters gas station, behind The Ox, etc. This past weekend also brought another possible heroin-related overdose death bringing the number in the Hanover area to more than six. Adams County lists at least three overdose deaths related to the drug. Click here and here for the stories:

Slacking off

2009-01-20T19:49:16Z

I have to apologize to the few who might read this blog since I've been slacking off. Things in the office have been hectic since we cut around nine newsrooms jobs. Jamie McCune, my fellow cops reporter, unfortunately was affected by the news. This leaves me as the only cops reporter for York and Adams counties. I will continue working 2-10 p.m. but will be covering all preliminary hearings for both counties, and all court issues for York. It's a full load which keeps me from having spare time to blog or even work on projects. What I am currently working on is another story in my heroin series. I've had several interviews with Matt, a former heroin addict and dealer, who thanks to the work of Dr. Peck and Suboxone, has kicked the habit. I also got the chance to interview his mother which was very interesting. The two of them spoke to me together and it was really cool to watch their interaction as he was sure she knew how deep into drugs he was, but she really had no idea. Look for the story in the next week or so.

Winter weather advisory

2009-01-07T01:04:26Z

... the three words no night cops reporter likes to hear. This morning after taking a week off to visit sunny Florida, I see on the weather channel that Hanover is expecting sleet and possibly snow. Being a southerner, that scares me. I can do snow. I always make tiny snowmen and snow angels, even if there's less than an inch. But ice ... not so fun. Growing up in Alabama, possible snow or sleet meant schools were closed and the Piggly Wiggly was out of bread and milk. No joke. Now as an adult living north of the Mason-Dixon Line, it means I have to try and drive in it, and most likely write a weather story - the bane of any reporter's existence. We do it for snow, sleet, heavy rain and even heat waves. During the first snow of the season, I got to write a story after York County 911 was bombarded with more than 30 accidents at one time. Another time during a heavy rainstorm, I was almost sent out to a driver stranded in water. So in preparation today, I slept in a little longer and grit my teeth knowing I was going to be told by an cheery editor that I had to write a weather story. Editors often find pleasure in assigning said stories. Turns out, the winter weather advisory was blown out of proportion as of 8 p.m. tonight. Yes there was a little ice on my windshield. And yes, I did almost fall down outside of my apartment while getting dinner. But neither Adams nor York county 911 had weather-related accidents, or any major accidents for that matter. Knock on wood. I'm pretty sure in saying this, I've jinxed Jamie come morning deadline since the storm's worst part is supposed to hit late tonight. But I can't say I'm feeling too guilty since I didn't have to do it.

The Grinch and other holiday news

2008-12-26T22:50:43Z

There is no rest for the weary journalist, even on Christmas. The Grinch stole Christmas from a Cashtown woman's home this year. The woman who lives on High Street reported that approximately 15 wrapped gifts totally around $700 were taken from a cubby hole in the attic sometime before Christmas Eve. Was it really the Grinch? Or an excuse for not having Christmas presents under the tree. In other news: West Manheim Township Police must have been bored on Christmas. This appeared in their police log: 0300 hours: Patrol checked nearby rooftops for a report of sleigh bells and hoof prints. Evidence of present delivering was found. Actor was gone on arrival. I almost took the time to call the station to ask for more information.

How fast is Cobrafast?

2008-12-19T22:38:29Z

Penn Township Commissioner Mike Johnson, aka Cobrafast, is still on the lam weeks after not turning himself in on new rape charges out of York. While police keep calling him "armed and dangerous," it could be assumed that even without being armed, this world champion martial arts expert is dangerous. The martial arts federation he used to fight for is now defunct and it's nearly impossible to track down just how good Cobrafast was. But we're working on it. A search on YouTube yielded this videos from the mid-80s. Interview with the champ: Cobrafast stands on razor sharp swords: More Cobrafast: (Note the 80s hairstyles)

Tis the season

2008-12-12T01:43:46Z

With Thanksgiving over, it's now the appropriate time for Christmas decorations. But with inflatable snowmen, nativity scenes and reindeer come the unspoken danger of Yuletide Spirit. Tonight was the first of many nights to come that we heard of this danger - the theft of the Baby Jesus from a manger in Littlestown. The homeowners notfied police who said they will be doing a search of the woods behind the house Friday morning. Perhaps more should be done to save the Baby Jesus. Oh wait, some people are doing so. See this story that ran on Thursday's front page.

Topix boards

2008-12-03T22:03:30Z

Out of all the stories on our Web site, crime stories usually get the most reader responses on the Topix boards. And that's not a good thing. While the first few comments start off as people just saying a criminal is stupid, it turns into a horrible display of humanity. Posters lose focus on what the story was about and turn against each other, threatening to hit each other in their cars, castrate someone, or worse. And while people are entitled to free speech, some of us wonder if we should be the medium for such hateful diatribe. I have to admit that I'll turn the other cheek if someone is talking poorly about a criminal, even if they're innocent until proven guilty. But it gets to me when they go after the victims. For example: Penn Township commissioner charged with rape While the woman allegedly raped told police she was looking for heroin and was dope sick, that doesn't mean she asked for it. And within minutes of the story being posted online, people were already questioning this woman's motive. A recent story I wrote about the heroin problem in Hanover has generated much of the same response. Addicts were called junkies and bums, and mothers who posted about the loss of their loved ones were accused of being bad parents. With the heroin problem being as huge as it is in the Hanover area, people are right to be concerned. And it is human nature to look for someone to blame. But it's just downright mean to attack the mother of a woman who died a month ago and left behind an infant. It's wrong to say that an addict got what he or she deserved. Personally, I think we should have rules for the Topix board, and that someone in our office should approve all of the comments. But alas, with the economy as it is and newspapers taking a downfall prior to that, we're already working with as little as possible and don't have the time to do so.

Welcome to Handcuffed in Hanover

2008-11-20T20:16:49Z

As crime reporters, we meet people on the one of the worst days of their lives. They have just lost someone they loved, been in an accident, or have just been charged for breaking the law. And we walk up or call, identifying ourselves as Evening Sun reporters and ask you to speak to us. It’s one of the worst parts of our jobs and leaves most of us with a bad taste in our mouths. But how some people are strong enough to sit down and talk about someone who just died, or how they feel about their houses catching fire, I don’t think I’ll understand until it happens to me. I’d like to say I’d be strong enough to do the same, but at times I think I’d slap someone like myself who walks up to you saying they understand. In fact for the most part, we don’t understand what someone is going through. But we try to be compassionate and give that person a chance to say something if they want to. We respect their wishes but do also have a job to do. The purpose of this new blog is to discuss any trends or incidents that do or don’t make it into the paper. It can also be used to answer questions or dispel rumors that appear on our Topix forums. - Kate