It’s a new day.

Hopefully we’ll be able to put that whole burglary saga behind us. But I’m not very good at convincing myself of that. The effects linger. I’m suddenly anxious about leaving the house. Could they come back? Is there a “next time” right around the corner? It’s hard to climb out of this hole.

This reaction from a friend and former reporter:

holy toledo

i have seen a lot, and i don’t think i’ve ever seen anything quite like your story today. it’s crime and punishment, all in real time. and all because of a camera that happened to be in the right place at the right time, combined with some fascinating blogging. considering how many people are reading your entries, i think this kid is about to run into one hell of a lesson in life. and a well-deserved one too.

i hope you and meda are ok. i’m glad you have so much support, but this is a lot for you guys to handle. the fact that meda is a grade-A criminologist just makes this all the more disturbing.

I was surprised by how much comment and discussion was prompted by yesterday’s burglary tale and the early debate over pop-up ads on the Star-Bulletin’s web site. Both led to lively debates among those leaving comments and others who sent me emails.

Following our weekend visit to the Big Island, I got a call yesterday from Peter Serafin, current president of the Big Island Press Club and former editor of Hawaii Island Journal, inviting me to become a member. His call was followed by an email from Star-Bulletin reporter Rod Thompson, also a press club member. Apparently they’ve currently got only one Oahu member, although there used to be several, and are anxious to renew the ties. Rod sent along a copy of their latest newsletter, which I’m taking the liberty of sharing in case it prompts others to pop for the $25 membership.

This recent item from the Seattle-based horsesass.org caught my eye. The title of the first pretty well gives away the story–“As the media collapses, so will media relations“.

As our local media universe contracts, the opportunities for media relations contract with it, a particularly troubling trend for the political community, which has watched the size of our state political press corps shrink by as much as two-thirds over recent years.

Imagine you’re a Seattle area legislator or advocacy group attempting to garner a little hometown coverage for a particular bill that would benefit your constituency. It wasn’t so long ago that Seattle’s print media alone had a half-dozen or more reporters and opinion writers based in Olympia during the session, plus a slew of political journalists back at home. But today, if the Times’ Andrew Garber isn’t interested in your story, or he already has his dance card punched, you’re pretty much out of luck.

Sounds pretty familiar, doesn’t it?

And there are a lot of other things worth reading at HA…do check it out.