Earthquake in Hait

My short on Indiana Task Force 1 was included in USA Today's online presentation. Here is the link to the story.

In Indiana:

Indy rescue unit prepares to help

Indiana Task Force One -- a search and rescue team of firefighters, medics, doctors and others -- is on standby today in case the group's building-search skills are called upon in Haiti.

The team's coordinator, Indianapolis Fire Department Battalion Chief William Brown, said by phone today from New Mexico that he's reached out to key planners on the Indiana team to make sure their passports are up to date and discuss other logistics that would be involved with an international rescue effort.

Task Force One, based at Indianapolis International Airport, is one of 28 teams linked to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Its 70-member team is filled with experts from local fire departments who can locate and extract people who are trapped within a collapsed structure caused by a natural disaster or act of terrorism. The team also has 12 search dogs.

Brown said a team in Virginia and one in California may be deployed to Haiti because of specific training it has in international response efforts. But others could be called in.

"We're paying attention. We're staying fluid," Brown said.

The Indiana Task Force, which was created about 20 years ago, last deployed in summer 2008 to the Gulf Coast and eastern Texas, where they spent three weeks assisting victims in the aftermath of hurricanes Gustav and Ike. The team also looked for victims in the flooded-out neighborhoods of Biloxi, Miss., after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and was one of the first teams to be activated after the World Trade Center terrorist attacks in 2001.

-- By Tom Spalding, IndyStar.com

Icy hydrants

I was able to get a leg up on the competition after a fire devastated a restaurant, reporting that not only could Indianapolis firefighters not find a usable hydrant, but that there was no guarantee that any fire hydrant in the city was guaranteed operable. Here is the fire hydrant story.

More hits

I have a good eye at at spotting what's going to be a top-read Web story. At least I think I do.

With the Dec. 12, 2009 story on the birth of ex-Playboy star Kendra Wilkinson, archived here I had three of the top 10 most-read stories during the 30-day window.

Bad call and bodyguard bump

The day after a stunning decision by Patriots coach Bill Belichick helped Indy to a 35-34 win over New England, I turned a standard "fan" practice of Googling into a story. Here it is.


Bodyguard bump

The NFL began to looking into a postgame incident where Bill Belichick’s security guy and a cameraman came into contact with an NBC cameraman. I wrote NFL probes cameraman's fall, as well as folo-ups along with Web colleague Scott Thien, and got thousands of page views over several days.

Weekly Web Work, October

My story on Peeps made USA Today. Click here to read the link.

My tagline appeared in a USA Today story about H1N1 flu. That same story was in the Indy Star.

Stories this week
Emmis takes $135M loss in 2Q, Tyson to move poultry work to Corydon, hire 78, Peeps maker sues greeting card firm, More join Bank on Indy program for 'unbanked', Shark-attack survivor, animal advocates vie for Indianapolis Prize, Ryan Homes to build on defunct CP Morgan lots, Ex-Frontier CEO named exec with Republic, USS Indianapolis memorial advocate dies, Marion County students heat up 'homework hotline', Health workers receive first H1N1 vaccine, Logistics firm to put corporate HQ in Johnson Co., Indianapolis developer: N.C. high-rise project bankrupt.

Newsletters for the week: 10-9, 10-8, 10-7, 10-6 and 10-5.

Weekly Web Work, September

An example of business page offerings on IndyStar.com


The highlight this month was simply a change in leadership that brought a familiar face to the business newsletters, and one of our first goals was to post more content to the Star business page to link back to the newsletters. On example was a national wire story about CVS offering a free flu shot to the unemployed. We hunted down the news release and wrote up our own original story that featured Indiana highlights. We also tried to localize "in-the-paper" stories to freshen them for the online audience, such as Lilly's layoff news, and created Web-only stories such as remembering the anniversary of the all-time record-high gas price, $4.17, set Sept. 16, 2008. We also were first with the big 9-14 Lilly job cut news and localized other pieces, such as Abdul's fifth anniversary on the radio.


Newsletters:
Fresh Start
8-31 Analyst: Republic will move planes from Hawaii
9-1 Airport raises to rise $1 to $2
9-2 Record $2.3B Pfizer settlement unveiled
9-3 Off-target in '08, United Way to renew fundraising
9-4 Burberry's move to Indy part of trend
9-7 none (Labor Day)
9-8 Abdul talk show marks 5 years on Indy radio
9-9 Purdue blunts tuition increases with more aid
9-10 Indy high-tech battery maker names president
9-11 Indy Museum of Art hires Met vet as COO
9-14 Lilly plans $1B in cuts by 2011
9-15 Panel to review $4B Ky-Indiana bridge plan
9-16 Pump prices stunned Hoosiers 1 year ago today
9-17 FedEx 1Q earnings fall 53%
9-18 Indiana set to release new jobless numbers
9-21 Low Emmis stock price causes NASDAQ alert

Mid-Day Update
8-31 Daniels releases itinerary for China, Japan trip
9-1 IU tuition compromise: Grade credits
9-2 Indy tourism board books engineer event for 2013
9-3 United Way modestly raises goal to $39M
9-4 Ind. officials renew Chrysler bankruptcy fight
9-7 none (Labor Day)
9-8 N.Y. businesswoman's trial date up in air
9-9 Indiana 4th in bankruptcies in August
9-10 Purdue $105M grant is largest ever
9-11 Two firms from China may scout Ind. for sites
9-14 Lilly CEO: New leaders, same HQ
9-15 Homebuilding permits fall in metro area
9-16 (guest star, I was ill) Mel Simon dies at 82
9-17 Burton speaks out for Sallie Mae employees
9-18 Indiana jobless rate drops below 10 percent
9-21 Honda begins overseas exports of Civics

Weekly Web Work, 8-4/8-28

Newsletters for the week:
Star Business Fresh Start
8-24 Brightpoint volunteers to spruce up Indianapolis park
8-25 Health care claim costs expected to rise 10.5%
8-26 Danville firm bids lowest on landmark demolition project
8-27 Despite recession, Gen Con Indy drew 27,900
8-28 Purdue dean exiting

Star Business Mid-Day
8-24 Eli Lilly spent $3.6M lobbying government in 2Q
8-25 Cummins idles 400 in Iowa
8-26 Indy to host 2011 world series for 'beep' baseball
8-27 JW Marriott art plaza features waterwall
8-28 Whirlpool closing Evansville plant