SGF Sunday: Confronting our issues is painful, but important

Text from our SGF Sunday email newsletter, written by Reporter Rance Burger

This was a huge week for the Hauxeda, as we debuted “Living in Fear,” an investigative series that examines domestic violence in Greene County. Our website’s most read item of the week is the story that starts Part 1 of Living in Fear. Reporters Steve Pokin and Jackie Rehwald introduce the issue of domestic violence, explain the hours of research that went into the project, and share a small sampling of the excruciating events captured in this series.

Of course, we want everyone to read the whole series as it progresses over the next two months. If you don’t have the time, or you don’t have the stomach to read every installment of Living in Fear (which can be disturbing to some readers), I recommend Jackie Rehwald’s story on strangulation. It’s one of the most common and most deadly aspects of domestic violence and abuse.

If you or someone you know needs help, resources are available in and around Springfield.

Financial stability, personal freedoms, personal safety and the right to vote — these are all among the chief wants for most Americans. Columnist Paul Kincaid frames these issues in a way meant to appeal to persons 30 and younger. It’s their time, Kincaid argues, to start taking these four issues into account as they shape their world.

The video of a Glendale High School teacher using the N-word in his classroom — with students of color in the seats, no less — made me cringe. Later, it gave me the opportunity to listen, read and think. Columnist Francine Pratt was quick to share some of her own experiences of living in a Springfield where some members of the population clearly don’t understand what it’s like when your skin is a different color. Some of Pratt’s experiences and accounts of her fears initially surprised me, but after taking some time to read and process her writing, I learned something more about my own community.

In sports, the Springfield Cardinals won’t be back in town until May 23, and the next homestand is your chance to see pitcher Brandon Komar. As Lyndal Scranton reports, Komar’s career is catching its second wind in Springfield. He won’t make you say “Wow,” if you watch the radar gun, but if you sit behind the plate and watch the strike zone, you’ll see the pitch control that helps Komar earn a living.

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