Free Press to unveil Top Stories of 2012 in first January issue

Cheney Free Press readers will notice something a little different in their Jan. 3, 2013 issue. Instead of doing an annual, two-part recap of the year’s stories, our “Year in Review” we have instead decided to do the “Top Stories of 2012.”

The Free Press editorial staff has discussed and debated the events of the past year and come up with a list of the three stories we felt were the most important in the areas of community news, education and sports. There’s no real science to how we came up with the stories we did, but we talked about the events of the past 12 months in the framework of such elements as impact, magnitude and prominence.

Fortunately for the communities we cover, and I guess maybe unfortunately in some sense, there were no major events that impacted the cities of Cheney, Airway Heights, Medical Lake and the greater West Plains in such a way as to cause profound changes or crises. There were a lot of ongoing issues that were slightly out of the normal cycle of business, civic and private, there were many successes and some losses, one of particular prominence.

As you can imagine there were many, many stories to consider. Some of these we have bantered about the newsroom over the course of the year, so a couple were givens for inclusion in what we tried to boil down to a list of the top 10. From this, and with more discussion the past couple of weeks, we have brought those down to two or three.

These top stories we are then re-running in the Jan. 3 issue, with a little bit of editing for length and, if possible, an update if the issue was ongoing.

We hope in doing this that readers will revisit these stories in a more comprehensive way than the former year in review lists, which often only devoted a line or two to ongoing issues and events. And I won’t lie, part of this has to do with a smaller space due to our new size and a scaling back in the newsroom.

We know not everyone will agree with our selections, particularly when it comes to sports. There were many good stories in 2012, but even with our former, lengthy year in reviews, we were never able to fully recount or pay tribute to these.

So, along with the re-running of these stories – and pictures – you’ll also find write ups by the editorial staff listing some of the seven stories, events or issues that didn’t make the top list, and maybe even some comments. And when it comes to sports, please understand that just because you don’t see a favorite sports team or individual that it is some sort of slight or oversight.

All of us at the Cheney Free Press understand and deeply appreciate the hard work and dedication put in by student athletes, coaches and even their parents. We value this work, and their willingness – particularly the coaches and athletic administrators – to work with us.

And the same goes for all of the newsmakers this past year, whether you are in the public or private sectors, we value what you try to do for your respective communities, the responsibilities you accept and the risks you may take. We appreciate and respect you decisions to trust us with putting you in our pages for everyone to read and potentially comment on.

Thank you to all in the Cheney Free Press community. May 2013 be a prosperous, healthy and happy year.