Bridge collapse

I left work about 6 p.m. yesterday and drove home as usual. I didn't think anything of the police car that went flying by me on I-694, heading toward Minneapolis. It was just a typical night for me. Then a short time later a fellow editor at the Pioneer Press called and said I needed to come back. A major bridge had collapsed.

The first thing I thought of was my husband. He had just left for a softball game and I sighed in relief as I realized he had gone in the opposite direction and wouldn't be anywhere near that bridge. He would be okay. Then my mind went into journalist mode. This is exactly the kind of situation where good journalists are at their best. Despite unrelenting stress, long hours and pressing deadlines, they somehow pull out some of their best work ever.

Nearly the entire newsroom staff of the Pioneer Press has contributed to our coverage of the bridge collapse and it's amazing to see teamwork in action. Everybody just pitches in and somehow it all comes together. Usually there's one or two good editors helping to steer and pull everything together, but mostly it's just everybody doing what they do best. And somehow it works.

Interesting that the Pioneer Press is being tested like on our first week after the most recent buyout. Our staff is about one-third what it was two years ago, so a large story like this is more of a challenge. But we seem to be pulling through.