Today was supposed to be an easy day.
At 9am, this was my little Sunday outlook: Over to Megan’s house for her grandfather’s birthday all day (with the occasional home entertainment system tweak and game of pool). Back home to play some Mario Kart Wii/writing tonight.
***
I was hoping to write on a great local blog Megan stumbled across: All Around Troy. It is maintained by an Alderman of her hometown and I wanted to highlight the reach and necessity of local bloggers, especially in suburban/rural communities. Their hometown is Troy, Illinois.
It’s a great blog; featuring pertinent legislation in Troy, new businesses taking shape in the community and otherwise great local human interest stories. In 8 weeks, it has the potential of becoming a real-time town newsletter for 10,000 folks that’s just a few keystrokes away.
Unfortunately, Allen Adomite is seeing his highest traffic and engagement numbers tonight in the wake of a tragedy. He’s been vigilant throughout the day, posting the most pertinent news about the shooting at First Baptist Church in neighboring Maryville, Illinois where Pastor Fred Winters was killed earlier this morning (CNN continuing coverage here).
He has been moderating comments to ensure only “verifiable” news being displayed and not allowing hearsay and ethical debate to overshadow the humanity and tragedy of the story. The blog has seen a transformation in several hours; from a resource for a few residents to check out when they were probably a little bored on a Thursday, to a hub for locals to try and gather a local viewpoint about a nationally publicized tragedy.
Allen is doing a great service for his community; more so than the service of Alderman, but he has now taken on the roll of a modern-day Paul Revere.
***
This is where our personal anecdote comes into play. While we were over in Troy today for the little birthday dinner, one of Megan’s neighbors noticed several unmarked black SUVs and local authorities searching a house that was in the same cul-de-sac of one of Megans’ aunts. Megan and her aunt’s family live in the Oak Land Hills neighborhood of Troy.
The initial speculation started to circulate amongst the family and neighbors at about 3pm today, Megan’s aunt turned to talking about the neighbor being, “crazy.” Her aunt’s family had repeatedly called the police due to “strange activity” at the house; nothing that could be described as more than “unnerving.” At 10:13 pm CST they ARE identifying the house as the home where the murder suspect in the First Baptist Church killing lived, but are NOT releasing his name.
Irregardless, Megan’s aunt is distraught after living next to a suspected murderer for the last several years and dealing with media requests and hysterical kids. To say it has shook the family would be a bit of an understatement.
And for the night cap: on the way back to Saint Louis this evening, we were unlucky enough to be involved in my first major car accident (luckily, only as witnesses to a black Jeep hitting a red pickup truck at 50 mph). We were 100 feet behind the accident at Broadway and Shenandoah in Soulard; I ended up jumping out of the car, checking to make sure everyone was OK and being filed as a police witness (there was a St. Louis firehouse 300 yards from the accident, I was accompanied by 5 firemen within 15 seconds of my arrival; my role was “nothing” throughout the event). Both drivers ended up being OK: one pre-existing dislocated shoulder and one broken leg. I was out of there in 5-minutes. I hate rubber-neckers.
So there’s our day. My brain is fried.
And one more personal anecdote: Troy is a great community. It’s terrible that they are having to deal with this burden on a national scale. I wish all of them peace over the next couple days as families are continually being tried and the hope for normalcy begins.
Peace.
mjb
