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THOSE WERE THE DAYS: Linotype, afternoon deadlines & no Twitter

Jul 03, 2010

By: Andria Carter

By PAUL MICKLE
Staff Writer
Today’s up-to-the-minute journalism reminds news veterans of the days of America’s afternoon newspapers, like Philadelphia’s Evening Bulletin, which put out four editions between noon and 6 p.m.
In the paper’s heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, stories in the first edition were updated with new information through the afternoon, just as articles today are continually revised in online versions of this and other newspapers.
The last press run came after the 4 p.m. closing of the stock market, and the Bulletin prided itself on getting the day’s stock closings into a final edition that would be distributed in time to be on dinner tables that evening.
In the days before the Internet, young people sometimes need to be reminded, readers had to rely on the printed word on paper. That required an army of reporters and typesetters to quickly revise stories with the tools and skills of the day — starting with hot lead.
My namesake father was a typesetter, or linotype operator, at the Bulletin for more than 30 years. On the occasion we kids saw him at work, he’d be sitting at a giant machine with a keyboard next to an ingot of lead melting into a vat of silvery, scalding liquid we were told not to touch.
Put on paper by old-fashioned typewriters, the news or advertising copy would be sent on air tubes from the reporters on the fourth floor to the composing room on the third — along with typeface and size instructions from editors and advertising reps.
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Fighting childhood obesity in greater Trenton

Jul 03, 2010

By: Andria Carter

By L.A. PARKER
Staff Writer
TRENTON — Childhood obesity remains a serious medical condition that is easy to recognize and predict, but prevention provides a significant challenge as kids beef up on fast food, soda pop and an assortment of high-calorie items that bulge waistlines.
According to a study conducted by Rutgers’ Center for State Health Policy, Trenton children rank as the state’s fattest with about half labeled overweight, obese or very obese.
Trenton ranked first for kids ages 3-19 with a belly-busting 47.3 percent, ahead of New Brunswick (46.4), Newark (44.2), Vineland (43.6) and Camden (39.8).
Overweight children are more likely to develop other physical health issues including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea and high cholesterol.
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Former Trenton mayor ready to lead baseball resurgence

Jul 03, 2010

By: Andria Carter

By ANDY EDWARDS and BEN DOODY
For The Trentonian
Baseball’s decline in Trenton has happened simultaneously with a drastic drop-off in interest among African-Americans – a trend that has dismayed Doug Palmer.
“I grew up in the era of the 50s and 60s, when baseball was king, when it was truly American’s pastime,” he said. “Every kid had a glove and a bat and a torn-up ball. We used to play pickup games in school lots, on baseball fields, with any kind of ball we could find.
“I think that baseball has experienced a decline, especially with African-Americans, which impacts inner-city baseball. Football and basketball have just overtaken the popularity. You don’t need anything but a ball and you’ve got a game going. Baseball is a little more expensive, and you need a lot more players. It’s lost a lot of appeal to urban youngsters and that’s too bad, because you can make an excellent living playing baseball.”
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The Pit Bull Problem

Jul 03, 2010

By: jkulkin

By JOEY KULKIN

Staff Writer

TRENTON — They were in the attic for days. Chardonnay Evans paid no mind to the ruckus up there because the noise makers were just a couple of dogs barking and scratching and doing whatever else doggies do.

“But I never thought my roof — my ceiling — was going to get bit,” said Evans, the Trenton teenager, whose bedroom was below the attic.

What Evans didn’t know is that the dogs were gnawing on the floor, chewing through the wood planks, satisfying some kind of hunger. The constant abuse created a weak spot in the floor, and the weak spot caved, and then one of the dogs fell through and crashed onto the girl’s head.

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