Columbine: 4.20.19
Remembering…
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Remembering…
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It’s been 20 years. I’m not sure I have anything new to say. On April 20, 1999, at 11:19am MDT, the world changed.
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It isn’t just NRA money. Congressional Republicans don’t act because their families aren’t at risk. Did you see this? ‘WTF’: Twitter furious as Florida lawmakers declare porn a ‘health risk’ but block assault rifle ban The vote comes less than a week after the devastating shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school left 17 people dead Less than a week
Read moreApril 20, 1999. I remember exactly where I was, exactly what I was doing. My co-worker at US West, Joe Lopez, turned to me and said “hey Sammy, there’s been a shooting at a school down in Littleton.” “Find out everything you can,” I said. I’ll go tell Marti. Marti was Marti Smith, our VP, and thus began some of
Read moreIt’s been 15 years since Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire. I don’t have anything new to say, but I thought that we ought to pause and reflect on that day and all that has transpired in its wake. Through the years I’ve written about Columbine several times, attempting to make sense of it, perhaps create a bit of
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August 13, 1993: I woke for my first day in Colorado. I had moved here from North Carolina for grad school. I had a van of everything I owned and barely a penny left after the 1600-mile drive. It wasn’t the first time I’d put my life in a truck and hauled it across the country to a town where
Read moreAs we try to unravel the whole Manti Te’o/”Lennay Kekua” mystery – is she dead? Is she alive? Does she exist? Was Te’o in on it or is he the biggest rube in America? – “sports journalists” (one of my favorite oxymorons, btw) are taking a right kicking, and deservedly so. Everybody out there who reported on the heartbreaking dead
Read moreTen years ago, at the turn of the millennium, Nostraslammy took a stab at predicting the 21st Century, with a promise to check back every ten years to see how the prognostications were turning out. Odds are good I won’t be able to do a review every ten years until 2100, but I figure I’m probably good through 2030, at
Read moreSusan Klebold, mother of Columbine High School killer Dylan Klebold, has finally, after all these years, decided to speak publicly about her son and the events of 4.20.99. She doesn’t give us anything like the understanding we might want – I doubt such a thing is possible – but it’s interesting nonetheless. Read it here.
Read morePart three of a series. In the days following the murders at Columbine High School I visited the school and the grounds of Clement Park. Those walks produced this piece, which was originally published ten years ago today. We have learned a great deal about the events that took place at Columbine since this essay was written (for instance, we
Read morePart two in a series How did it happen? Why did it happen? There’s simply no way to measure how many hours have devoted to these questions in the ten years and four days since Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire at Columbine High School, and while we don’t (and never will) have all the answers, we do have
Read morePart one of a series April 20, 2009: 11:19 am MDT Ten years ago a co-worker turned to me and said something that I’ll never forget, no matter how long I live: “Hey, Sammy, there’s been a school shooting in Littleton.” Since that day a great deal has been written and said about Columbine High School and the events of
Read moreThe header on the story reads this way: CU’s Campus Press Fights for Independence. The subhead is equally on-point: A contentious faculty meeting points to independence for CU-Boulder’s student newspaper — but at what cost? But at that point the journalism train jumps the tracks, because the first couple grafs eschew any consideration of the alleged story itself in favor
Read morePosted: April 20, 2007: 11:19 am MDT Denver CO In 1999 I was the Electronic Communications Manager for US West’s internal comm group, and my team rode herd on several channels used to communicate with 44,000 employees in 14 states and DC. Mornings were usually really busy – we posted things when they happened, but we did a big daily
Read moreThis week authorities busted up three Columbine copycat plots, at least one of which seems to have been pretty serious. I doubt this really surprises anyone who’s been paying attention (see prediction #5 here), but it’s still pretty disturbing. Mark it down – some April 20 in the near future, the conspirators are going to be smart enough not to
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