No more Nunzsense

As the word began to get out last week that Ogden Newspapers decided not to retain me at The Northern Virginia Daily, one of the regulars at Buffalo Wild Wings stopped by and said, "I guess that means no more Nunzsense." It's hard for me to believe that the column I was reticent to start got much readership, at least based on the number on comments I got on non-siren-related editions. But I'm sure there were some folks out there who read the column through its 20 or so weeks.

One of the best things the column did was provide some fodder to fill this blog. I started the blog at least in part to see if I could come up with enough ideas to make a run at becoming a columnist. I guess I did, since with the help of Christina I was able to meet my obligation each week between early October and the end of Feburary. But now, where does this leave us?

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am headed west, to California, where I will try my hand at finding a job and nurturing a relationship. So that is what I'll be writing about over the coming weeks, the preparations for moving and life on the other coast. I'll try to keep it light, and try to write it tight. And I'll also try to actually post something once in a while. Cheers!

Nunzsense: Goodbye, and thanks for the ride

I do hope I end up back in newspapers someday, but it looks like the masses have spoken. There are other media I can compete well in, including radio and news or sports websites, but the latter seem to have trouble making enough money to employ good reporters and editors. Maybe I can make a living shooting photos at minor league baseball games.


http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2012/02/charles-pannunzio-goodbye-and-thanks-for-the-ride.php

Nunzsense: Time to leap into the past

My tribute to the Shenandoah Valley, Winchester in particular, this column was written when it began to appear I would be leaving the Daily at the end of February.

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2012/02/time-to-leap-into-the-past.php

Nunzsense: Taxing to figure this tax

This was something that I needed to confirm and was able to in this column. The state of Virginia wants $3 for that $60 pair of shoes you bought in Hershey. Note, I didn't say I bought them. I don't know what you are talking about.

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2012/02/charles-pannunzio-taxing-to-figure-this-tax/

Nunzsense: Not all capitols are busy

I wrote this column while I was in California visiting Christina at what turned out to be an interesting time in Strasburg, with the announcement that the paper was being sold. Glad I could enjoy some R&R with her, and not have to deal with angst in the newsroom, as well as pick up two more capitols. But were we surprised to hear there was no legislative session in Carson City this year.

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2012/02/charles-pannunzio-not-all-capitols-are-busy/

Nunzsense: Baseball could be a good fit

It's not often that I get to write about minor league baseball, and I know more than a few folks are probably happy that's the case. But here is my favorite recent column on the subject of baseball potentially coming to Winchester.

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2012/01/baseball-could-be-a-nice-fit.php

Nunzsense: Not just a trivial pursuit

Well, got just 29 on the "Jeopardy!" test so I'll be sitting on the couch for another year wondering why none of their esteemed contestants had heard of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. But it provided fodder for my tribute to game shows.

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2012/01/charles-pannunzio-not-just-a-trivial-pursuit.php

Nunzsense: Holiday shuffle calendar

State employees just got a four-day weekend in Virginia. Why, you ask? Here's the answer.
http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2012/01/charles-pannunzio-holiday-shuffles-calendar.php

Uh oh, the Daily messed that link up. So here's my cached version (gotta be prepared, you know).

Posted at 11:24 AM Jan. 15, 2012 | Updated: 5:28 PM Jan. 16, 2012 0 0

Charles Pannunzio: Holiday shuffles calendar

How did you celebrate the four-day holiday weekend?

If you were anything like me, you worked on Friday and, unless something unexpected happens before this afternoon, I'll be back at the office.

But today is a holiday for most government workers and bankers, and some state employees have actually been out since leaving work on Thursday.

Today is the day that Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday is recognized, although his actual birth date was Sunday. As the most recent addition to the federal calendar, observance of the King holiday remains hit-or-miss. For instance, I could pay a water bill in Winchester today since city offices are open, but I'd have to wait until Tuesday if I need to check on anything at the courthouse, since it has been closed since 5 p.m. Thursday.

That's right, Thursday. That's because Friday was Lee-Jackson Day, which honors Robert E. Lee and Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, and is observed on various dates in a number of states in the South. In Virginia, Lee-Jackson Day was celebrated on Jan. 19 for a number of years before it was moved to the nearest Monday, giving many state employees a three-day weekend.

I still remember the first time I heard of Lee-Jackson Day. My mother dropped me off at the Medical College of Virginia Hospital in Richmond one morning -- I am guessing now that it was Jan. 24, 1983 -- for a doctor's appointment. She told me to kill some time afterward and she would pick me up at noon.

Having visited the state Capitol a few times, I knew the lay of the land down there and figured the perfect place on a cool, drizzly morning would be the state library. As I went to open the door, I was surprised to find it locked. A little sticker on the door indicated that the library was closed for "Lee-Jackson Day." I guess if I was of age, I would have realized the ABC stores were closed too.

When discussion of a national holiday to honor King began, his Jan. 15 birth date seemed like a logical time, but it got wrapped up in the 1971 federal act that moved many observances to Mondays so federal workers could get a three-day weekend. That's the same act that gave us Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day and Columbus Day on Mondays, rather than Feb. 22, May 30 and Oct. 12.

In Virginia, there was resistance to adding a third holiday to the month of January, so the General Assembly eventually decided to combine the King observance and Lee-Jackson Day into "Lee-Jackson-King Day," which was first observed in 1985.

Obviously some of the resistance was not because of the when, but the who. I'll leave it to the more scholarly, and more opinionated, folks to discuss this juxtaposition, but pretty much nobody was happy with the compromise.

After a decade and a half of the shared observance, Gov. Jim Gilmore proposed the current split in 2000, with Lee-Jackson Day marked on the Friday prior to the King holiday. The General Assembly agreed to the change, which created even more of a patch-work observance, as anyone who tried to visit a government office on Friday could attest.

Lost in this entire discussion is the reason for the holiday. Hopefully those folks who have the day off will pay King tribute, either by attending one of the local celebrations of his life or by participating in a service project.

That's a nice way to honor a legacy.

• Charles Pannunzio is assistant managing editor of the Northern Virginia Daily.

 

Nunzsense: Was that Tucker Carlson?

Not to ruin the surprise, but yeah, it was.

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2012/01/charles-pannunzio-was-that-tucker-carlson.php

Nunzsense: One less Friday in Samoa

Got the idea for this column while riding back from Chapel Hill with Christina and listening to some CNN blah blah blah. Was first going to compare time zones and mention Indiana being told to stop being so contrary, but that might work for a March column, so I talked about the Liberty calendar instead. A tip of the cap to Christina for saying this sounded column-worthy.

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2012/01/charles-pannunzio-one-less-friday-in-samoa.php

Nunzsense: No need to wait for Jan. 1

In which I basically explain why I don't make new year's resolutions.

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2011/12/charles-pannunzio-no-need-to-wait-for-jan-1.php

Nunzsense: Perfect card is hard to find

I looked high and low for a box of Christmas cards this year, and finally ended up with something rather benign. On a side note, writing this column helped convince Christina to send me a card.

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2011/12/perfect-card-is-hard-to-find.php

Nunzsense: Devices enliven aviation

After the Alec Baldwin playing "Words With Friends" debacle, I decided to weigh in on using electronics at 35,000 feet.

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2011/12/devices-enliven-aviation.php

Nunzsense: A tweet was not the truth

For some reason this story struck a chord with me that a lot of folks either did not recognize or found insignificant. Either way, I thought that while Sam Brownback's staff went overboard, the student was not entirely free of blame since her lie led to everything else. I have fears there will be a lot more of this without media to check out the veracity of claims.

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2011/12/a-tweet-was-not-the-truth.php

Nunzsense: Different D.C. in the dark

The latest Nunzsense describes a post-Caps game visit to the monuments in Washington on a foggy Monday night. I'll include some photos from the walk at some point, I guess it will be obvious I've done it when photos appear. The column is the first to mention Christina by name.

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2011/11/different-dc-in-the-dark.php

Nunzsense: Ice puts motorists in scrape

Here's a Nunzsense column from November 2011 in which I praise ice scrapers. I know, I know...

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2011/11/ice-puts-motorists-in-scrape/

Nunzsense: Power of lost time

This ended up being a recitation of an afternoon where a power outage and computer follies made things interesting. Apparently not interesting enough for anyone to share this column. Maybe I need to write about the Strasburg siren again.

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2011/11/pannunzio-power-of-lost-time.php

Nunzsense: Election coverage aided by technology

Catching up on the last few weeks of columns, this one concerns how much easier election night has become thanks to the Internet. Although I do miss filling out the chart.

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2011/11/charles-pannunzio-election-coverage-aided-by-technology.php

Nunzsense: Always a twist to the news

Here's another of my columns from a few weeks ago, talking about how a story can change between the pitch and the actual reporting.


http://beta101.nvdaily.com/news/2011/10/always-a-twist-to-news/

Update as of April 2015. It appears this link is bad, so here is the column:

It was supposed to be a simple advance. Some might call it a puff piece.

But when Northern Virginia Daily staff writer Kaitlin Mayhew started talking to some merchants in town a couple of weeks ago, she found that they were not that thrilled at what Downtown Front Royal Inc.’s Hometown Halloween had turned into in only two years.

An event that was supposed to help promote downtown businesses to the parents while the children collected treats had turned into a free-for-all (except for the people paying for the candy) that drew 2,500 participants last year.

Like any good reporter, Kaitlin knew she had found “gold.” The real story was concern from the businesses, with several owners saying they simply could not afford to participate in the event this year. Her story was balanced with others who said they would still take part, but readers seized upon those who said they were taking a pass, with some going as far as to blame the reporter and this newspaper for running the story.

Reporting news is not always pretty. It is often the third part of the old saw that holds that anyone who likes sausage or respects the laws of this nation should watch neither being made.

Countless times I have gone to a meeting with an agenda packet, figuring I knew exactly what I’d write about. But over the course of two hours in a town council chamber, three other items might turn out to be better fodder for a story. That original idea? Maybe something later in the week; maybe something for the bullets at the end of the story.

One of the big things reporters have to be able to do is think on their feet. In the course of an interview, you might hear something out of left field. Going down a different line of questioning than you might have anticipated, you find the real news.

In his outstanding book “This Just In: What I Couldn’t Tell You On Television,” Bob Schieffer of CBS News describes the way he figured out how to best do his job while covering the Pentagon. When he wanted to find out what the Army was doing, he went to someone from the Navy. After all, the Navy already knew what the Army was doing, but might be more willing to offer a tip or two.

Some stories are pretty obvious. When a house catches on fire, that’s a story. When a crash shuts down Interstate 81, ditto.

Others require a little digging — sometimes a lot of digging. And where that digging takes us may not please every single reader. That’s too bad. That’s news.

The reporters at this newspaper make every effort to be fair. I know the work they do each day. Sometimes those closest to the story, those with “a dog in the fight” are not going to agree. That’s what letters to the editor and the comment section on the web page are for. I am happier when people stick to the issue at hand rather than go after people who are doing their jobs.

We are not trying to trick anyone into anything.

* Charles Pannunzio is the assistant managing editor of the Daily.

Nunzsense: The News In Texts And Tweets

I wrote this rather quickly while my apartment was being cleaned on a Thursday morning. Thanks to Brad and Christina for the inspiration, and Robert for his company at the Caps playoff game last May.

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2011/10/pannunzio-the-news-in-tweets-and-texts.php