Reporter's Notebook: May 11

My new best friend: Emma the basset houndTwo weeks ago, in this very feature we publish weekly, I issued a call — or borderline begged — for all you basset hound owners to bring in your dogs into the Register's newsroom. I believe they're the best breed, and I grew up with one.Well, one of you did. I want to give a big shoutout to Norwalk resident Madison Brant and her adorable pooch, Emma. They came in for a quick visit. I'm happy I got to meet Madison and equally appreciative I could give Emma some head-scratches and belly rubs. I extend the invite to any other area basset hound owners to meet me at the Register.— Andy OurielMadison Brant and her basset hound, Emma, recently made a stop inside the Register so reporter Andy Ouriel could meet the dog.Tyler TerrificA former Register intern is making a name for himself in the journalism world.Tyler Buchanan, a 2009 Bellevue High School graduate, has won numerous awards, including from the Associated Press. He earned the accolades as both a reporter and editor for The Athens Messenger. He's also the editor of its sister paper, The Vinton-Jackson Courier.I met Tyler at Bowling Green State University, where we both worked at the student newspaper, The BG News. Most recently, at our alma mater, he won the Florence and Jesse Currier Young Professional Award. It recognizes those making a significant impact in the world of reporting.In 2012, I helped recruit Tyler to work at the Register and saw him flourish during his summerlong internship. I'm so happy to see him excelling in his field and making a positive impact — but I'm even prouder to call him a friend.— Andy OurielTyler Buchanan, a 2009 Bellevue High School graduate and former Register intern, is making a positive impact in the journalism award.Island lifeI've lived in this area for most of my life without ever visiting any of Lake Erie's islands, but that changed last week when I went to Put-in-Bay for a media day.And wouldn't you know it, during my first time on the island it was cold, wet and foggy. It was so foggy that from the top of Perry's Monument it looked like you could reach out and touch the clouds.But it was still an entertaining trip and I got to see many things I didn't know the island offered. But next time I think I'll go when I'm more likely to get sunburn then windburn.— Michael HarringtonDaily newspapers make a differenceHere is a story I noticed during the week: The city of Dunedin, Fla., is trying to take away an elderly man's house because of uncut grass.Here are some sentences from the website of "Reason" magazine:"(Jim) Ficken was out of town at the time, settling his mother's estate. Ficken hired a handyman to deal with his lawn while he tended to his dying mother and then to her estate, but in a cruel twist, the handyman also died during the Fickens' ordeal, leaving the lawn uncut."Ficken is 69 years old and lives on a fixed income. He was unaware that he was racking up the daily fines, but cut his grass within two days of finally being informed by a city code inspector that there was a problem. In a sane world, Ficken's explanation for neglecting his lawn and the fact that he remedied the problem as soon as he learned of it, would seemingly resolve the issue ... Because Ficken cannot afford the fines he didn't know he was accumulating, the city of Dunedin insists that it can now take his home to pay off his debt."A lawsuit has been filed in an attempt to save Ficken from losing his home.I was curious whether there was a local newspaper who had covered this, so I looked. There's a weekly newspaper of sorts called the "Dunedin Orange," but it hasn't written about the case.It seems to me that an active, daily newspaper is an important watchdog on local government. I am obviously not "objective" about this, but if you subscribe to the Register, give yourself a pat on the back. You are improving your community.— Tom Jackson "Winesburg, Ohio" turns 100Author and Clyde native Sherwood Anderson wrote "Winesburg, Ohio," which was published on May 8, 1919. I've never written a book, but author Sherwood Anderson and I have something in common. Anderson's famous book, "Winesburg, Ohio," was published a century ago on May 8, 1919. The book is a collection of stories about Clyde, Ohio. He lived there during his childhood and began writing the book while living in Chicago. In a column published this week by the New York Times, Bruce Falconer described how Anderson's book changed American literature. Though 5,000 copies were sold in the first two years, the novel's popularity grew and it's now considered a classic read in high school and college English classes. Additionally, it's ranked No. 24 on the Modern Library's list of 100 best American novels, according to Falconer. "'Winesburg'" owes its longevity not to shock value but to how perfectly it captured a society on the brink of colossal change," he wrote. But not everyone liked the book. Apparently, "the town's head librarian burned copies of his book, and for many years, any patron of the Clyde Public Library who requested it was met with a scowl as she fumbled for the key to a locked closet where she stored, together with other 'bad books,' a single copy that had somehow escaped the flames," Falconer said.Like Anderson, I also grew up in Clyde and learned about his book in middle school and high school. I have yet to read the entire book, but I'll see if I can check it out from the Clyde Library. — Caitlin Nearhood