News Post #9

Recently, the city officials of Pelham have considered replacing one of the infamous skating rinks at the civic complex with a fire fighter museum. These plans have been debated due to the $2 million that has been lost over the past two years. Chris Pollone reported the story.

Pelham's mayor Don Murphy has been flooded with letters and emails petitioning to keep the rink, which is  why he is fighting to save it. Tracey Kerbler, a local hockey coach, was interviewed to express some of the community's emotion on the matter. She explained that losing the rink would also result in a loss of income for the city. Kerbler added that the ice skating sports, such as hockey, provide opportunities to bring in revenue for the city through tournaments and other gatherings.

In the footage, Mayor Don Murphy stated, "I will work with you. I want to work with you. Everything is on the table. I will sit down and listen. . .and do what we need to do as a community." The whole story really illustrated a sense of "community." I was really impressed with the mayor and how he handled this tough situation. He is willing to keep both parties happy by fighting to keep the skating rinks but also trying to find an alternate location for the museum. Murphy seemed to be very diplomatic.

NBC13 did a great job showing images of strikes, interviewing citizens, and attaining footage of the mayor, but I wish they had gone the extra mile of finding one of the city officials to interview. The story would have been less biased by showing representatives of both sides. Other than that, I found this story very interesting, and I definitely plan to follow up on the plans for civic center.