I can't remember how many times I've written in the past few years about how much this job has changed.
I often write about the conflict that exists between the two worlds I operate in - the 24-hour non-stop delivery of news online, and our old reliable print product that we still create every day and deliver to our longtime, loyal customers.
Those worlds are becoming increasingly blurred as we move quickly to take full advantage of the new digital world we all live - and work - in every day.
One thing has not changed.
Every day I get to make a very important decision. That would be which story will be our Page One lead. I sometimes refer to the front page of the Daily Times as some of the most important real estate in Delaware County, even if it less than one square foot.
Some days it's a pretty easy call. One story clearly dominates - and thus dominates our front page as well.
Those are the easy days. The opposite is when we don't have a single big story. That doesn't change my task. We're still going to have a print product (that's something else that hasn't changed). So I sit here like Solomon and make the decision.
Then there are days like yesterday, when we likely could have led the paper with any of four or five stories.
In the end, I decided to lead with the story on the arrest in the fatal crash that took the life of an Upper Darby teen.
Dante DeSimone was a recent Upper Darby High grad and freshman at Neumann College. He was a popular athlete.
On a Sunday night in January, just a few days before he would return for his second semester at Neumann, he was doing what kids do. He was hanging out with friends.
DeSimone was walking along Baltimore Pike in Clifton Heights, in front of the McDonald's. That's when the unthinkable happened.
A car and truck collided. One careened up onto the sidewalk and struck DeSimone and a friend. DeSimone was killed. The friend was badly injured.
Yesterday, the driver of one of those cars was charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence.
As a newspaper editor, I know the value of that kind of story.
As a father, I can't get past the idea that one second Dante DeSimone was doing what all young people do, and the next moment he was gone. Just like that. Literally in a heartbeat.
It's every parent's worst nightmare. And it's today's front page news. Just incredibly sad.
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