Poor Paul

Life has been interesting at the newspaper lately. A couple of weeks ago, the newspaper office was broken into. The thieves went through all of the desks and filing cabinets, etc. After the break-in, they changed the locks and added deadbolts to the doors. The break-in happened the same night as about 8 other break ins in our county.

Our new editor is from Saginaw (big city) and a bit shocked to be so close to crime in the little village of Roscommon.

This week, our new reporter was filling ill, so he rushed into the local gas station. In his hurry to make it into a rest room before throwing up, he neglected to lock his car. Because he was ill, he didn’t realize until the next morning that his laptop and camera had been stolen from his unlocked car.

I should note that this is the same place where my mom had her purse stolen.

I couldn’t even imagine losing my laptop. Do you know how much work I have on this thing? I’d never be able to reproduce that information.

After it happened, Erick, the sports guy, was asking me about my insurance coverage. I have additional coverage for my computers, and I have business coverage. It covers my laptop and camera no matter where I am, which is a good thing since my camera and laptop cost… well let’s just say I am very careful when I decide to hand my camera over to a stranger to take a picture of me with my family. (I was going to say I wouldn’t do this, but I already have done it. However, at the time I handed it over, we were inside the very top of a lighthouse, so the guy didn’t have any place to go.)

So, yes, I have insurance but that doesn’t replace the stuff on my laptop. My words. My pictures. All of the assignments and handouts I’ve created for the classes I teach. My memoir. All of that work. Insurance can’t cover that. Maybe I should back up my data. You think?

Paul found out his home insurance would only cover the loss of his laptop if his car had been parked at his house. However, our local law enforcement reviewed the tapes from the business and was able to identify a car and a person responsible. In less than 24 hours the officer located the car parked at a (not nice) boarding house. The boarding house is actually right across the street from the newspaper office.

The good news is that Paul’s items, including his laptop, were recovered. But the stolen bag also had keys to the office in it, so for the second time this month the newspaper’s locks were changed.

What has been happening at our newspaper office, however, doesn’t compare to what happened at The Morning Sun on Tuesday. Mary Babb, an advertising sales rep, was killed by her estranged husband in the newspaper’s parking lot. He rammed her SUV, overturning it and trapping her inside. Then he walked up to her and shot her twice. He has since been arrested. There are news articles at http://themorningsun.com