20070324 Reporters on the move

Reporters on the move

March 24^th, 2007

Saturday, March 24^th, 2007 was, I think, the first story by Justin Palk as a reporter for the Frederick News-Post.

The article, “Yard waste collection set to begin next month,” was originally published today, March 24, 2007.

Justin Palk is perhaps one of the quickest reporters with the copy, (although, most all of us agree, the reigning record holder for being consistent and prolific, is Tom Stuckey, now retired, who was the AP Bureau Chief in Annapolis for many years. Read: “Go Ask Stuckey,” which I wrote for The Tentacle on December 6^th, 2007.)

In the past I could attend the same event with Mr. Palk and by the time I got home and called Mr. Palk with a question, he will have already traveled to his office and filed his article and be headed back out the door…

Several weeks ago I learned that Mr. Palk was moving on from the Carroll County Times to the Frederick News-Post. His first day with the Frederick paper was March 20^th, 2007.

At the Frederick News-Post, he will be initially covering the City of Frederick.

I was an elected official when Mr. Palk came with the Times in May 2003. I always appreciated his no-nonsense straightforward style. Over recent years he has covered a couple of the local Carroll County municipalities and the Maryland General Assembly in Annapolis.

I guess one of the reasons I seemed to consistently understand Mr. Palk was the fact that before he started with the Carroll County Times he used to be a “software developer at Veridian Systems in Ann Arbor, MI.,” according to his Carroll County Times web site bio.

The web site bio also indicates that “He received his master's degree from the University of Maryland in May 2003, and his BS in computer science and English Literature from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in December 1999.”

His articles will be missed at the Carroll County Times. Reporters come and go over at the Times, some ya miss; others – you don’t.

Mr. Palk will be missed – especially his coverage of Annapolis.

Hopefully the Frederick News-Post, which I read online, almost every day, will quickly figure out that he will attract many readers by letting him travel over to Annapolis once a week. He has developed too big a following.

We wish Mr. Palk the best over at the Frederick News-Post. Frederick’s gain is Carroll County’s loss.

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