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Articles by Bill Cotter
Local journalism is woven into the fabric of our communities
Across Pennsylvania, from small towns to major cities, a common thread quietly weaves communities together. It draws attention to a local high school’s championship hopes, the detectives who solved a decades-old cold case, a proposed data center seeking approval in a township or the celebration of a hometown business reaching its 100th anniversary. That thread is local journalism, and it is an essential part of the fabric that binds our communities.
Local journalism is woven into the fabric of our communities
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Across Pennsylvania, from small towns to major cities, a common thread quietly weaves communities together. It draws attention to a local high school’s championship hopes, the detectives who solved a decades-old cold case, a proposed data center seeking approval in a township or the celebration of a hometown business reaching its 100th anniversary. That thread is local journalism, and it is an essential part of the fabric that binds our communities.
Let the sunshine in: Restoring transparency to Pennsylvania government
Each year in March, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star joins news media organizations across the country to take this time to highlight the importance of transparency in our government. National Sunshine Week, March 15-21, is a time to highlight the importance of open, transparent government and to call attention to actions that place those principles at risk.
Local journalism: The ties that bind our communities
One day last month, newspaper stories shined a light on the troubles, triumphs and transformations happening in communities across Pennsylvania. In Erie, readers followed fundraising efforts to save an injured dog named Dopey. In Harrisburg, people gathered at a vigil for a teenager whose life was cut short. Philadelphia buzzed after a hard-fought Eagles win and as the Phillies closed in on the National League East title. kAmx? $92C@?[ 2 72E96C 4@?7C@?E65 E96 D6?E6?4:?8 @7 E96 A6CD@?
A Voice Unheard - Backstory
Issue Five • Issue Five Poetry • Poetry Views: 1923 By Bill Cotter It is a travesty of dawn, this dank And oily semi light, oozing through The alleys, the shattered windows and blank, Deserted streets. Where laughing children drew Their dreams, or scattered scarlet autumn leaves, Feeling the thrill of cascading delight, The grim Apocalyptic horse now heaves Its armour plated bulk from dark to light And gunshots ring out, sharp as glass cracking.
Storytime in the Park!
About this Event Storytime in the Park! Come join us for fun and interactive color-inspired stories, songs, and movement activities in the great outdoors! Bring the kids for storytime with Ms. Ali and then let them play together in Jayne Park! We will meet in the grassy area behind the library parking lot.
Midweek
By BILL COTTER “I knew this guy once, called Andre,” Gary said, striking a strike-anywhere match on the zipper of his fly. He lit a Salem and buried the match in a clay flowerpot at his end of his porch step. He looked at me, not for permission to continue, but as though he were inviting me to dare him not to. “Andre,” I said, kind of liking the feel of the name on my teeth.
Bill Cotter: The government must tell us in print what it’s doing
A developer wants to rezone a public park to allow high-density housing. The local school board weighs a plan to close an elementary school. City council considers selling the sewer system to a private party. Knowing in advance that public officials are considering matters like these gives the public an opportunity to weigh in before decisions are made.
Summer Reading 2025 at Knapp
Take a look at Knapp Branch's exciting schedule for this year's Summer Reading Program, Color Our World. You can find information on how to participate in Summer Reading Challenges on our main Summer Reading Page.
Public art installation: Reader’s Garden opens tomorrow in Shaker
Tags: Placemaking + Neighborhoods Cities: Shaker Heights Note: Press "Esc" on your keyboard to close Fullscreen mode, or click the minimize icon.
25 Best Board Books for Babies and Toddlers You’ll Love to Read
Best Board Book Versions of Classic Books Of course our best board book list starts with the great Goodnight Moon! As the little bunny says goodnight to all of the familiar things in the room, you and your little one can do the same. How do you choose just one Eric Carle board book?
Brotherhood Is a Life Sentence
Brotherhood Is a Life Sentence Share article The two brothers met by chance near the ice machine in the hallway of the seventh floor of the Marriott Hotel on Liberty Avenue. Liberty, if followed north for eleven miles, led to a squat stone building, two hundred yards from the main prison campus, in which was contained the chamber, the apparatus, and the drugs used to put prisoners to death.
Reading Room: May 2023 Book Picks
Celebrate May with these interactive picture books suggested by Annisha Jeffries, Youth Services Manager at Cleveland Public Library. These books encourage kids to learn through touch, sound, or movement. Visit cpl.org or clevelandreads.com Don’t Push the Button! by Bill Cotter Get ready for laughter andsurprises as children are drawninto this story by being asked not to push the button – only to find out what happens when they do.
His Father's Memories Are Not His Own
Introduction by Halimah Marcus Share article Jan 18, 2023 Issue No 557 Written by Bill Cotter Recommended by Halimah Marcus Bill Cotter’s “The Good Room” is a story about memory—memory as a place you visit, or a place you avoid. Douglas Brunig has come to see his father in a nursing home after a decade without communication. Gripped by dementia, the elderly Brunig’s memory is displaced and porous, crossing boundaries of time and space.
How Do You Know If Your Short Story Should Be a Novel?
The list of novels that began their lives as short stories is long and well known. Jeffrey Eugenides’s The Virgin Suicides, Eudory Welty’s The Optimist’s Daughter, Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake (which began as a short story titled “Gogol”), Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway (expanded from her 1923 story, “Mrs. Dalloway in Bond Street”), Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections (which grew from his 1996 story “Chez Lambert”)—these are just a few of the most often–cited examples in the English language.
Holiday books
Each year the library purchases new holiday books for children and each year parents come in droves to haul those books away. We try to keep our shelves full of titles fit for the holiday season, but it’s a challenge when the demand for these books goes from zilch January through October, to sky high in November. To the average patron it probably looks like we don’t have enough Christmas books, but let me tell you, libraries have them, libraries have them for days.
Parent Picks: Bedtime Stories You'll Actually Want to Read
Reading to your kids at night and watching them snuggle up for a good story is one of the greatest parts of parenting. But sometimes, the books that kids want to hear every night are not necessarily the ones that parents love reading — I’m looking at you “Thomas the Tank Engine.” That’s why it’s important to do a bit of research and find books that are actually enjoyable to read. The type of books that are made for silly voices and will have you and your kid giggling every time.
Aftermath - Right Now
The sea lopes towards its usual blue dreaming afternoon. Clouds unfurl their grey, white sails and form leisurely, Distant loops. But, strewn Along the beach, black and spidery, Thin, unstable lines mark the flames’ demonic dancing And on the cliff tops, like bodies ashamed of their nakedness, Skinny tea trees and banksias are hanging, Silent in their condemning ugliness.
Celbrating the 10th Anniversary of Fever Chart
NEW BOOK ALERT What the world needs is a 680-page, three-pound humor anthology. KEEP SCROLLING TILL YOU FEEL SOMETHING: TWENTY-ONE YEARS OF HUMOR FROM McSWEENEY’S INTERNET TENDENCY is now available for preorder. September 24, 2019 - - - September of 2009, an honest decade ago, was a complicated time. My rare-book business was in the middle of a fracturing bankruptcy, I was flopping around in the low tide of a depression, and my cat, Micio, had just been put down. He was three. I was 44.
Independent commission can end gerrymandering
Bill Cotter Sunday Feb 3, 2019 at 3:15 AM Everyone knows partisan legislatures frequently draw absurdly shaped election districts to benefit their own party. I applaud the New Hampshire Legislature for considering a move to an independent redistricting commission.
Independent commission can end gerrymandering
Bill Cotter Everyone knows partisan legislatures frequently draw absurdly shaped election districts to benefit their own party. I applaud the New Hampshire Legislature for considering a move to an independent redistricting commission.
Bill Cotter: The virtues of an independent redistricting commission
Everyone knows that partisan legislatures frequently draw absurdly shaped election districts to benefit their own party. I applaud the New Hampshire Legislature for considering a move to an independent redistricting commission.
Maine Voices: Partisan gerrymandering could shift control of the House of Representatives
Everyone knows that partisan legislatures frequently draw absurdly shaped election districts to benefit their own party.
Maine Voices: Partisan gerrymandering could shift control of the House of Representatives
Everyone knows that partisan legislatures frequently draw absurdly shaped election districts to benefit their own party.
Chastity Desaulniers, Truffle Human
A northwesterly breeze carried Chastity over the old oak grove. When a small clearing came into view she drew her pellet gun and rapidly fired into the large helium balloons overhead, initiating her descent. A few more shots and she dropped neatly into the clearing, just off center, landing on her feet, her backpack of gear intact. Dusk; the yellow-green tracery of fireflies lit the blacker corners of the edge of the clearing. Chastity sniffed the air. She had come to the right place.
Beyond the ‘pop-up’: Librarians recommend interactive books for tots | The Star-Telegram
Reading to toddlers and preschoolers can be tricky. They’re fidgety, get easily distracted, and need lots of movement and silliness. Interactive books engage the pickiest readers and help develop those important early literacy skills needed to build strong readers. One of the first early literacy skills children acquire is print motivation. Simply put, print motivation is choosing books that are fun, engaging, interactive, and that children will want to read and reread.
The unsung female heroes of the Beat Generation
In 2010, in Austin, Texas, I was hired by a fellow to manage his private library. The curious thing about this library was that it contained no books. It was simply a converted attic space with glassed-in gables at either end, a wood-burning stove, an attractive intarsia-work table and, most noticeably, dozens of shelves built into the walls – all empty. My job, I was to soon find out, was to fill these shelves with ‘the most important books of all time’.
Wells Fargo is Pleased to Announce Its Brand New Reputation
Wells Fargo is Pleased to Announce Its Brand New Reputation We’re excited to let you know about some changes we’ve recently made at Wells Fargo. Yesterday, we rolled out our brand new reputation, which is now synonymous with the service and integrity you’ve come to expect from us over the last ten weeks. We know you will share in our satisfaction as Wells Fargo is perceived in a better light both here and abroad.
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