Back On The News Beat

So I've been back with the paper, now Northwest Arkansas Newspapers L.L.C., since the first of the month. Admittedly I wasn't exactly looking forward to transitioning back to news full time after three months of non-stop football. But, surprisingly, things have gone well and I've had some good assignments and feature hunts. The photos above are from a house fire in Rogers on my second day back. I haven't shot a good house fire in a long time. In this case it was good since the home was abandoned and nobody was hurt. I'll be posting more news photos in the coming days.

Lucky

I had to abandon my lunch today to run out and cover a two vehicle rollover MVA on U.S. 540 today near Springdale. The teenage girl in the photo hugging her father was very lucky she walked away from the accident virtually unscathed. The SUV she was driving rolled four or five times. Two of her friends were also in the vehicle, none of them were hurt either. The driver of the other vehicle that actually caused the accident wasn't so lucky and earned a trip to the hospital. Drive carefully out there folks.

Randomness

It's been over a week since my last post. No excuses here. I really haven't shot anything in the past eight days that I'm proud of. So in celebration of nothing, here is an assortment of random photos for your enjoyment. The lead photo is from the opening of the Crystal Bridges Trail which offers an overlook of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art construction site. The museum is expected to open sometime in this millennium.


Painting the downtown Bentonville water tower.


Kids touring the Old Spanish Treasure Cave near Gravette.


A fire at the Glad Manufacturing Plant in Rogers.


Senior portraits at Bentonville High School.


The Rogers High School Mountaineer Marching Band's freshman marching camp.

Is is football season yet?

Don't Smoke In Bed

I covered an apartment fire yesterday in Rogers that was the result of a man falling asleep in bed with a cigarette. During the course of my career I've covered several of these kinds of fires. Luckily the man escaped the fire and was uninjured.


The man's wife showed up on the scene from work. She was pretty upset. The couple's four kids were at a baby sitter. She was very grateful for that. What seemed to upset her the most was knowing that the whole thing should have never happened. Their lives had been sidetracked because of a stupid cigarette. Very sad.

Fatal MVA

I covered a fatal two vehicle accident yesterday on U.S. 62 east of Garfield. The two lane highway is notorious for bad accidents. This was the first fatal I've shot in probably a year. I'm glad it's been that long. On fatal scenes you have to walk a fine line between doing your job, staying out of the emergency workers' way and being respectful of the deceased. It doesn't take much to set someone off in such an emotional, stress-filled environment. The State Police and firefighters on the scene were really nice. They shared information with me and allowed me to shoot whatever photos I wanted with the mutual understanding I wouldn't directly photograph the victim. I intentionally stayed on the public side of the blind in the photo above to convey the somber mood at the scene as the victim's body was removed from the mangled vehicle. I also stayed behind the blind so I myself wouldn't see the victim. After working this job for more than 13 years I've seen some horrible things and I can still recall each one of them vividly in my mind.


The man pictured above was one of the three survivors from the accident.

Man I hope the scanner stays quiet today.

Senior Moment

A few photos from the elderly woman driver versus store front mishap I shot on Wednesday in Springdale. The 83-year-old woman claimed her "brakes failed." She was uninjured, but she pinned the barbershop's 94-year-old owner between her minivan and an interior wall.




The shop owner suffered a shattered leg along with a broken hip and pelvis. Considering his age it could have been a whole lot worse.