Behind the Headlines

Readers will sometimes ask reporters “How did you get that story?” or “Who gave you that story?” or “Who put you on to that?”

Often we are, indeed, given stories in the form of press releases, or someone might just call up and make some newsworthy announcement. But a lot of articles come from tips or rumors that we chase down.

The process sometimes shows what a small world it really is.

Such was the story behind the recent story about the sale of Toledo Beach Marina.

On a Monday, I came into work and found a voicemail from Tom Treece, Luna Pier administrator, saying he heard a rumor that the marina had been sold.

The next day, while attending a service for Comair crash victims at Roselawn Memorial Park, I ran into LaSalle Township Supervisor Larry Rutledge. I asked if he had heard anything about the marina having new owners. He had, he said, only because long-time owner Tim Gladieux called as a courtesy and told him the LaSalle Township marina had changed hands. Larry didn’t have any details, just that the new owner was some Atlanta company that owned a batch of other marinas.

When I returned to the office, I began searching the Internet for background on any Atlanta company that had a group of marinas. Meanwhile, I got a voicemail from Beth Ann Choate, retired Monroe County equalization director who recently moved to the Atlanta area. She simply said she had heard the marina had been sold and she expected to see a story online at www.monroenews.com in the next day or so. She didn’t leave her phone number.

I contacted Mr. Gladieux and he gave me most of the details I needed. He pointed me to the Atlanta firm that he sold his marina to, and then I went to their Web site and called the business to knit together a few more details.

A day after the story was published, Mrs. Choate called again, thanking me for doing the article that she read online. She then explained that before she first had called me, she was having lunch with a new friend in Atlanta and the friend recognized others at the eatery and introduced Mrs. Choate to them. They asked where Mrs. Choate was from. She told them she was from Monroe. They said, what a coincidence, they had just bought a marina in the Monroe area, some place called Toledo Beach.

And now you know the story behind the headlines.