COLUMN: News changes with the weather

I recently saw a humorous cartoon on Facebook that showed four different states in our nation depicting four separate weather conditions — rain, wind, snow and sun.
The humorous part of the cartoon was that below that separated depiction was a single sketch labeled “Kentucky Weather” which showed four separate weather conditions — rain, wind, snow and sun — all occurring at the same time.
Thus seems to be the case in Kentucky this week.
Last Friday we were under a winter weather advisory and as you may have seen in this week’s paper, several wrecks were at least in part caused by the icy conditions.
However, we had highs in the 60s on Tuesday tempting this editor to break out her sandals. (For what it’s worth, I didn’t bare my toes. I settled for flats with no socks.)
As I sit writing this column, the forecast says we may be in for a long night of storms and a day of excessive wind, only to be followed with low temperatures and the threat of snow.
That’s Kentucky weather for you.
And in a way, it’s also the news business.
One good thing about our job — if you look at it that way — is that no two days are exactly the same and the ‘climate’ can change on a day-to-day basis.
One day you could be photographing a group of students who are high achievers and the next be sitting in a court room covering a hearing of someone who’s been charged with selling drugs.
Yet the next day you could drive out to the scene where a man has been stabbed and left to fend for himself if not for the kindness (and alarm) of strangers who called for help.
A portion of our staff attended the Kentucky Press Association awards banquet on Friday night where we were in the company of some of the industry’s best. As awards were announced and applause deservedly given, one thing was evident.
Though the news business is exciting and one day isn’t the same as the next, one thing is for sure — the majority of people in this business care deeply about what they do and the communities in which they live.
The same is true here at The Spencer Magnet. We love this business and we care about you — our readers. So thank you for  reading our paper and sticking by us in the rain, wind, snow and sun.