I’ve been writing about this story:

FERNDALE — A 24-year-old woman and her infant son were found apparently murdered inside their home in the 6100 block of Portal Way Wednesday, March 4.

Dozens of story comments have demanded we take down the photo of a grieving family member.

The photo is like dozens of others this newspaper, and many others, have run. We have left it up because it’s news.

I’ve started this blog post so we can discuss.

Is it that the photo is local, the story involving someone you may know? Is it that the crime was just revealed and there’s been no time to gieve? Newspapers print photos dozens of hours removed from the event. This is so immediate.

I’ll be back in a minute, but I wanted to post this to get the discussion started while I link to this blog from story comments.

There’s nothing I can say to friends and family of those who died that will make this story any better. It’s a tragic loss.

But we’re a news site (and newspaper) and news is often upsetting.

This is what I posted on the story comments:

This is a very upsetting story, but as a news site, people come here expecting us to cover the news: the good, the bad, the painful.

The photo accurately depicts the horror of the event. We will be updating the story (and photos) as we get reports in from the site, where we currently have four staff members.

The editors have discussed the photo at length. And it is well within the standards we’ve set for news photos. This community has been lucky in that there isn’t often awful news. But readers have seen these types of photos in The Bellingham Herald and other newspapers for years.

We’re always reviewing our standards and online plays a part in that.

As the economy goes down, scams often go up, so reporter John Stark has started blogging about government warnings and calls we get from readers about consumer concerns.

“We get news of interest to consumers on a daily basis, but there is often no place to put that information, and no time to develop all of these items into full-blown newspaper stories. Through this blog, I can quickly alert people to some of these things,” John says.

One example: he recently got two complaints in 24 hours from people who said they had received menacing phone calls from companies trying to collect small, very old debts. This kind of thing could develop into a real story at some point, but in the meantime, he was able to post a blog item alerting people to this activity and informing them about their rights. In most cases, debts that are more than seven years old are legally not collectible, and some of the companies in this kind of business have been targeted for legal action by consumer protection agencies in other states.

“I’ll do my best to keep tabs on this kind of thing, as well as informative news releases from state and federal consumer protection agencies,” he told me.

Reader comments on the blog will help John know which kinds of scams he should be focusing his reporting on.

The Bellingham Herald’s Heart for the Hungry Food Drive collected more than 11,000 pounds of food for Whatcom County food banks this weekend.

This Saturday, Feb. 14, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., we’ll be at the Ferndale Cost Cutter and the two Bellingham Fred Meyer stores. There is also a collection box in the lobby of our office at 1155 N. State St. where collections will be gathered until Feb. 23.

We thank those who gave 1,950 pounds of food and $923 in donations, which will buy 9,230 pounds of food.

The need is great in these troubled economic times. The food banks do a great job making the most of donations and serving the community.

Technicians are still on the hunt for why our phone system cuts out every day or two.

Dixie cups and string were easy to figure out. It’s not as easy with the computer that runs the phones today.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

We moved local news headlines to the top of the page today, along with a few other minor changes.

The top center “news update” headlines now carry a time stamp of when the story is posted. And in the same space, you can use the tab to bring up stories most recommended by readers.

Local stories, along with top regional, national and world stories, first appear in the “news update” section, and then move to “local,” “sports,” “world” or other appropriate section(s).

Stories written by Herald staff stay posted to the live site for year before they go into the archive. Associated Press stories stay live for two weeks and aren’t archived on our site.

“Most recommended” stories get their status from the number of people who click the “recommend” link at the top of each story. You don’t have to be a registered member of the site to recommend a story. But you can only recommend a story once.

“Conversations” with Dean Kahn are now found in the “Recent forum posts” tab on the right side of the site. The most active conversation threads appear on the home page. You can also see all of the active forums by selecting “Forums” in the navigation under “Community.”

Editors get questions, from “what ever happened with” to “what time does the inauguration start,” that others might be interested in too.

We’ve started a new forum to capture your questions and our answers.

We can’t answer life’s cosmic questions. And we have limited resources for answering questions about non-local news topics, but we’ll do our best to answer your questions.

It’s going to be a tough holiday for many with the troubled economy.

If you’re counting your blessings this year, here’s a story you may have missed during the Thanksgiving weekend.

Our Anna Walters wrote about local charity and community support organizations that ask you to keep them in mind when you’re out shopping this holiday season.

We’re also again partnering with the Opportunity Council to help collect funds for Extend-A-Hand, which funds one-time assistance to those in need in Whatcom County.

A little glitch in our online site was just fixed and you can now select from nine sizes of type for stories.

You’ll have to have better eyesight than I do to read the smallest print, but the largest looks to be about 18 point type, which is headline range in print.

At the top right of each story page is a box and the last element in it says “text size” along with icons for a plus and a minus sign. Just click on the plus or minus to move the type size.

Bellingham Herald readers have been incredibly generous in past years, giving to our holiday charity drive, now called Extend-A-Hand.

All the money you give stays in Whatcom County and The Herald helps cover the administrative costs with the Opportunity Council, so your gifts go to those most in need.

Dean Kahn wrote about the charity drive in the Thanksgiving Day newspaper.

Thank you to all those past and present who have generously donated.

I’m just back from a week’s vacation and wanted to point out a cool online photo project by Herald photographer Phil Dwyer.

Check out his time-lapse video here of the assembly of a replica African village as part of a World Vision Experience: AIDS exhibit at WWU.

Seventy percent scale copies of Wednesday’s Bellingham Herald page 1 are available on photo stock for $56.20.

If you’re looking for an election souvenir, contact Peter Rolstad at 715-2260 or email newsroom@bellinghamherald.com

All over the nation people are buying newspapers as souvenirs of this historic election. Some copies of Wednesday’s Bellingham Herald may still be available at retail outlets listed below. We also have copies available for sale at The Bellingham Herald, 1155 N. State St.

Front-page copies are also available at 70 percent scale on photo stock for $56.20. If you’re looking for an election souvenir, contact Peter Rolstad at 715-2260 or email newsroom@bellinghamherald.com

In addition to 249 outdoor new racks around the county, you can find print editions of The Bellingham Herald at these locations:

7-ELEVEN ALABAMA #23140
7-ELEVEN LAKEWAY #23138
7-ELEVEN NORTHWEST #196
ALBERTSONS #416
AM/PM #81705/BENNETT
AM/PM LYNDEN
ANW 76 STATION
AVENUE BREAD
BAKER BEAR
BAKERVIEW SHELL
BARNES & NOBLE
BAY CENTER GROCERY
BELLINGHAM GROCERY OUTLET
BELLINGHAM SHELL
BELLIS FAIR SHELL
BENDER SHELL
BIGFOOT JAVA BAKERVIEW
BIGFOOT JAVA SUNSET
BREWED AWAKENING #1
BREWED AWAKENING #2
BROMLEYS
BUZZ THRU COFFEE
BUZZZ COFFEE
CAFE CAFE
CAFE CAFE CORDATA
CAFE CAFE LIMITED
CHEVRON CHERRY ST MKT
COMMUNITY FOOD CO-OP
COOL BEANS CORNWALL
COOL BEANS LAKEWAY
CORNWALL CORNER STORE
COST CUTTER BLAINE
COST CUTTER LAKEWAY #447
COST CUTTER MERIDIAN #67
COST CUTTER SUNSET #448
CRAZY MIKE’S VIDEO
CRUISIN COFFEE ALABAMA
CRUISIN COFFEE BAKERVIEW
CRUISIN COFFEE BENNETT
CRUISIN COFFEE CORDATA
CRUISIN COFFEE IOWA
CRUISIN COFFEE LAKEWAY
CRUISIN COFFEE LYNDEN
CUSTER STORE
DEMING QUICK STOP
DODSONS
DOLLAR TREE
EASTSIDE GROCERY
EXCELLENT GAS FOOD
FACTORY OUTLET
FAIRHAVEN MARKET #25
FAIRHAVEN PHARMACY
FASTWAY
FOOD PAVILION LYNDEN
FOOD PAVILION SOUTHSIDE
FRED MEYERS BAKERVIEW
FRED MEYERS LAKEWAY #25
FRESH START ESPRESSO
GIFFORDS
GREENE’S CORNER
HAGGEN #11 MERIDIAN
HAGGEN #43 SEHOME
HAGGEN #53 BARKLEY
HALIBUT HENRY’S
HANNEGAN HOT SHOTS
HINOTES
HOAGLAND PHARMACY
HOMESTEAD CLUBHOUSE
I WANA MOKA FAIRHAVEN
I WANA MOKA HOLLY ST.
INTERCONTINENTAL FOODS
IOWA ST TEXACO
IOWA STREET CHEVRON
JAVA TOWN MERIDIAN STREET
JJ’S PLACE
KING STREET SHELL
KOFFEE KLUTCH
KOI CAFE
KWIK STOP MARKET
LAUREL CENEX
LAUREL FOODS
LYNDEN CENEX
LYNDEN CHEVRON
MAPLE FUELS
MARINE DRIVE MARKET
MCDONALDS B FAIR INSIDE
MCDONALDS FERNDALE INSIDE
MCDONALDS KING ST INSIDE
MCDONALDS LYNDEN INSIDE
MCDONALDS SAMISH INSIDE
MCDONALDS TELGRPH INSIDE
MCDONALDS WALMART INSIDE
MIDWAY GAS & FOOD
MIDWAY SHELL
NELSON’S MARKET
NEW STAR #3
NOOKSACK MARKET CENTER
PARADISE MARKET
PARK MANOR SHELL
POWER GAS
RITE AID LYNDEN
RITE AID TELEGRAPH
ROCKET COFFEE
ROCKET COFFEE
ROME STORE
S.SAM’S 76 #18 32ND ST
SAFEWAY
SAMISH WAY CHEVRON
SAMISH WAY MOBIL
SAMISH WAY SHELL
SAMMY’S PLACE
SEMIAHMOO MARINA MART
SEMIAHMOO RESORT GIFTSHOP
SHELL D ST
SHELL H STREET
SHELL/SMART STOP
SHOTS 2 GO ESPRESSO
SILVER BEACH GROCERY
SMOKIN SAM’S/MANJIT’S
SPIRIT OF LYNDEN
STARBUCKS BAKERVIEW #9378
STARBUCKS BARKLEY #3304
STARBUCKS CORDATA #354
STARBUCKS DOWNTOWN #9679
STARBUCKS LYNDEN
STARBUCKS SEHOME #3290
STARBUCKS SUNSET #321
STARVIN SAMS
STARVIN SAM’S #4 SAMISH
STARVIN SAM’S #5 MERIDIAN
STARVIN SAM’S VALERO
STEAMER’S EXPRESSO
STOP N GO ESPRESSO
STUART’S COFFEE
SUNSET FOODMART (JACKPOT)
SUNSET SHELL
SUPER DUPER
SV VALLEY MARKET & DELI
TRAVELODGE/PARK MOTEL
VALLEY COFFEE BARN
VIDEO IMPACT
VILLAGE BOOKS
WALGREENS MERIDIAN 245118
WALGREENS SUNSET #7390
WAL-MART
WASSEF FAMILY DELI MART
WELCOME STORE
WHATCOM FALLS MINI MART
WOODS COFFEE #1
WOODS COFFEE #2
WOODS COFFEE #3
WOODS COFFEE #4 KING ST.
WOODS COFFEE BAKERVIEW
WOODS COFFEE BOULEVARD
WOODS COFFEE DOWNTOWN
WORLD CUP COFFEE
WWU VU INFO CENTER
YORKY’S #10 ALABAMA
YORKY’S #2/BLAINE RD
YORKY’S #3 FAIRHAVEN
YORKY’S #6 BENNETT
YORKY’S #7
ZOOM ZOOM ESPRESSO

It’s not as cool as an “I VOTED” sticker, but if you go to the county auditor’s Web site you can check and make sure your ballot has been received.

Here’s the URL: http://www.whatcomcounty.us/auditor/election_division/ballot_status/index.jsp.

There must have been something in the water on the street where I grew up. One of those silly “send this to your friends” emails asked this week what’s your favorite day.

Forget holidays and vacations… Jill, my maid of honor who grew up across the street from me, and I both answered “election day.”

She’s now an online editor in another state.

It is my favorite day, but like a lot of others, I’m ready for this election to be over. The number of angry callers goes up the closer we get to the election.

We’ve been planning for weeks not only what we’ll write and post online, but how we will integrate it with work from our McClatchy colleagues and the Associated Press.

Here’s a link to info about how the Associated Press goes about reporting elections.

Dean Kahn is again offering up topics for conversation .

The questions are in the new forum software, so you do have to be a registered user to participate.

Today’s topic is about safety in downtown Bellingham.

Several readers have called to ask about a “GOP slate” political flier they found with their newspapers this morning.

The Herald is not distributing them nor have we authorized anybody else to do so.

All political advertisements in The Herald, including any inserts, adhere to Public Disclosure Commission regulations that require disclosure of who is responsible for the content along with a mailing address.

If you see something without that information, it’s not from The Herald.

Once you register for our site, when you create your account, you have a place to start your own blog.

In the future we’ll be featuring readers’ blogs on section fronts. It’s your chance for a wider audience for your thoughts.

Let me address a few points from comments on an earlier post:

We need your email on registration so we have a place to send the account verification. Without that extra step, it’s possible for automated sites to try and register.

It’s far more likely that information gathered online is about groups of people, not you individually.

Here’s what our privacy policy says about “Passive Data Collection and Use:”

Like most Web sites, BellinghamHerald.com also collects and logs information automatically and through the use of electronic tools that may be transparent to you, such as your IP address, the name and location of your Internet Service Provider, the type and version of your browser, the length of time that you stay on BellinghamHerald.com, search queries, your click-stream data, the location that referred you to BellinghamHerald.com and the average number of pages viewed. If you visit another Web site prior to browsing BellinghamHerald.com, that Web site might place personally identifiable information within a URL, which may be logged by us. Your IP address is the identifier assigned to your particular computer when you access the Internet. Depending on how you connect to the Internet, your IP address may always be the same, or it may change each time you access the Internet. Note that logging your IP address does not in and of itself provide us with your name, e-mail address or home or work address. We use this log information for systems administration and troubleshooting purposes and may also use it to gather general demographic information about you such as your general location and your Internet Service Provider. In order to better provide our services to you and to develop member profiles that enable us to focus our site, services and advertisements on your interests, we may correlate this log information with other information about you, such as your registration information or newspaper subscription records.

We use third-party advertising technology vendors to collect, via includes, cookies and web beacons (1x1 pixels), non-personally identifiable data when you visit our Web site. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.

You can find the policy at the bottom of every page. Here’s the link: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/privacy_policy/

I was corresponding today with a local business owner who wanted to submit information for the paper. I thought the information might be useful to others as well.

Mostly we rewrite information sent to us anyway. You don’t need to “issue a press release.” The information doesn’t even need to be written as a narrative. You can just give us the facts and we’ll do the writing.

Here’s what we need -
Who: (businsess name)
What: (grand opening, new facility, new staff)
Where: (your address, city)
When: (date, include time if it’s an upcoming address)
Why/Details:

Also give us contact info: Business number, Web site, email address you want readers to have; plus name/telephone number and email address of who to contact for more information about the story for a reporter to call if we have questions.

Just send your information by email to newsroom@bellinghamherald.com.