Marion paper helps community in ice storm's aftermath

Evans, editor/publisher of The Crittenden Press, drove his family to Paris, Tenn., his hometown, immediately after the ice storm and continued to Jackson, Tenn., to buy generators and find a cell-phone signal.

The Press had already printed its Jan. 28 edition. The paper had little information about the winter storm, so Evans and his staff put together a two-page copier-size edition filled with basic information about water, power, phone service and emergency services.

With no power throughout Crittenden County, the pages served as the sole source of public information. The Press distributed the special edition free throughout the town and to the shelters.

Radio station WMLJ was knocked off the air for the first week of the storm. Some residents could listen to WPSD's radio feed if they had battery-operated radios.

"I feel like we met our obligation to the community," Evans said. "We felt like we needed to keep people informed."

Evans relied on a freelancer to post updates to the newspaper's Web site and his editor's blog. Without Internet service, he couldn't access the newspaper's e-mail account where emergency agencies sent information.

Evans called former Crittenden resident Matthew Patton, who lives in Pennsylvania, with information to post to the blog and access to e-mail.

Patton also called friends and family in the area, Evans said. He said readers from outside Kentucky relied on the site for news about their hometown.

During the days after the storm, The Press ran off a generator and produced the paper a day early. Evans said he wanted residents to have up-to-date information.

The Press also published its free shopper, The Early Bird, with storm stories. "We almost canceled it, but it's a free publication and total saturation, so I figured we might be able to get it to everybody."

After almost 10 days The Press finally regained power and the Internet service.