If we could only live in a ‘Perfect World’

By KATHI NAILLING

Last week I had several e-mail correspondences with a reader of the local papers. Her concern was that our front pages only print crime or bad news.

Unfortunately, this is true most weeks. Contrary to what you may believe we don’t go looking for the crime, it finds us. You may think we sit around listening to scanners all day. We do! But that is not where most of our stories come from. Every time the police or sheriff makes a good arrest they send a press release.

We are not like a daily that prints a paper seven days a week. We only have that one day to get all the news in. Some weeks we just don’t have enough space or time to get all the news articles that are sent to us in the paper. It is not for lack of effort. Some weeks it just can be overwhelming.

One of the last e-mails I received from her said, “For every arrest there are 10,000 good law abiding citizens that did not get arrested. And some may even have stories to tell” A true statement if I ever heard one. If you have a story, please send it.

What I believe is Sheriff Nutt and District Attorney McKee are trying very hard to make this a safe place for those law-abiding citizens to raise a family or just come spend a weekend on the lake. I have to give them credit for their efforts.

When I moved to Henderson County 27 years ago. I was told, “If you want to commit a crime go to Henderson County. They never arrest anyone.” I was working for a Dallas paper when a reporter made that statement. At that time it was so true. I don’t think anyone would say that today. Just read your local papers and see the arrests being made each week.

In a perfect world there would be no drugs, murder or thieving. Like most communities we don’t live in that perfect world.

As a community newspaper the Cedar Creek Pilot has an obligation to our readers. It is our duty to inform the public of what is happening in your community. At the end of the day I have to be able to tell myself I did a good job this week of telling my readers the truth.

Some weeks I come to work on Monday not knowing what will be on the front page that week. By Tuesday I have to make decisions as to which stories are most important.

The Pilot is considered a true community newspaper. We do not cover any national news. You have plenty of media outlets to get all the national news you want.

What you can’t get from your national news sources are the winners of the 42 tournaments, softball games being played at Gun Barrel City ball field, or winners of a poster contest. That is why we exist.

With that comes the police beat. No other media will report if a tractor gets stolen or we have a rash of robberies in the area. That is what your local paper is here for.

I think that is why the sheriff and DA are working as hard as they are. They also would like to live in that “perfect world”.

With all this said I also realize that newcomers coming to our area may see this area as crime ridden. Nobody wants that. I love living at Cedar Creek Lake. I wish everyone could see what I see. I see a great community growing by leaps and bounds; a Chamber of Commerce that takes pride in the fact they serve the local businesses; civic organizations that care about our community, churches of all denominations, great school districts and an area that is lucky enough to have two papers to inform them of all the exciting things happening here. I have met some great people here at the lake. I also see the law enforcement agencies working hard to make my life better.

Please remember we are your community newspaper and always want to hear from our readers. If you have news articles or just want to tell us what you think send it to generalmanager@cedarcreekpilot.com. If you just want to sound off, I am a great sounding board.

Kathi Nailling is the General Manager of the Cedar Creek Pilot. E-mail Kathi at generalmanager@cedar

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