Friday, January 4, 2013

Rough start to the new year

WE ARE ONLY a few days into 2013, and already in Quincy we've had a murder and a fatal fire which wasn't accidental. Good news this morning, as one bad guy has been caught.

Awful things. We don't know a whole lot publicly just yet. Of course they knew each other. Do you think they were exchanging recipes?

The murder took place less than half a mile from the store, and the fire was maybe the same distance. The fire victim is the brother of a gal I know, and my heart breaks for her and her family.

After covering crime and courts for 12 years, I realized this stuff is cyclical. About 10 years ago we had a spate of homicides, four or five in just a few months, and people were running around lamenting how Quincy was such a horrible place to live, and how could this stuff happen here, blah blah blah.

Yet nobody says anything when it's quiet, or when things are going well. People remember all the awful things I had to track, but I also wrote thousands of positive and uplifting columns and stories.

QHS band Playing in Washington Park on Veterans Day, 2012
Don't bury your head in the sand and say things like, "How could this happen in our nice little town?" Our nice little town has issues, like every other place in our country. We have some awesome people in law enforcement and in the judicial system, as flawed as it is, who are busting their butts right now.

Let's wait to pass judgement until we find out what, why and how these things happen. And though it hits home, it's still our town, our place to live, and we can only strive to make it better.

Even when the news is bad.


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