This category is for local year 2000 news. While we'd like everyone to bear the basic journalistic rule of thumb in mind here - "Be sure you can corroborate the story with two independent sources before going to press with it" - we don't need to get too carried away. You may have an experience you might like report: Maybe you'll attend a county commissioners meeting where y2k is discussed and you'd like to give everyone your impressions. Or maybe you'll receive a notice in the mail from your power company related to y2k. It could be anything. All we ask is that everyone use discretion, be careful not to simply report things that "you heard" (rumors, y2k gossip), don't make any disparaging comments about anyone in the community based on your perception of their efforts (or what you consider lack thereof), or anything you can't substantiate or didn't witness first hand.

While we don't think it's necessary that everyone have a degree in journalism to report the local y2k news, we do want everyone to think before posting things under the "News" category. We'd like to keep this category open to everyone to post into, and we'd like everyone to help out, but if the postings in this category turn out to be based on "hearsay," speculation, or too much conjecture - too much editorializing - we may have to reconsider how our local y2k news is gathered and reported (post/file those "editorials" under General Discussion). The Internet offers us all an incredible opportunity to communicate with our neighbors and the world, but with that goes a certain amount of responsibility... End of sermon. Feel free to search out and report the local y2k news, please just do the best, most thoughtful job you're capable of.

Naturally, any and all reproductions of local news stories reported in the local media, or references to y2k web postings to those organization's sites can and ought to be listed here.

And last but not least, if you're a member of the local news media, your references, reports, opinions are, of course, encouraged and welcomed.

-- Bill (billdale@lakesnet.net), January 17, 1999