Heartfelt stories were also the most memorable
As 2022 comes to an end, let’s take a moment to reflect before embarking on a shiny new year.
Such is the purpose of The Reporter’s Year in Review special section.
Among the top national stories of the year are local ones, pieces where each journalist takes a look at their body of work for 2022 and expands on those that stand out. One reporter chose his favorite stories, another those described as the most important on his beat.
Still another opted for a visual look at Solano during past months, and also contributed stories that meant the most to him.
As for me, I’m just grateful to work with and oversee an amazing team that, despite all odds, comes together to perform miracles on a moment-by-moment basis. There’s a lot of sacrifice involved, a wealth of time and effort expended, an abundance of care that goes into not only getting each story but also ensuring the details are accurate.
The result — each day’s edition of The Reporter.
My own list of coverage is short, mainly because it’s condensed. The stories that stood out to me really touched me for one reason or another.
For example, my byline marks a bunch of retirement stories this year. Among them were farewells to Jason Johnson, Nate Benevides and Otha Livingston with the Vacaville Police Department and Steve West with the California Highway Patrol. I’ve been with The Reporter for 23 years and have worked closely with all four, watched them grow and promote and continue to do great things for the community.
Fairfield police Chief Deanna Cantrell conducted amazing outreach both within and outside the Police Department. She may have left, but her legacy lives on and her successor, Chief Dan Marshall, is well known for his care and compassion and ability to get things done.
Most fun for me was birthday coverage of Solano’s centenarians. Each one I met was irreverent and grateful for a life well lived.
Like Shirley Helmich of Vacaville, whose golfing skills were impressive during an early morning at Cypress Lakes Golf Course. A mom of three, she found golf later in life and made up for it with practice and fierce competitiveness.
Life is good, she said, adding that she’s celebrated numerous times before her big day and a three-day gathering with family was set to follow.
“I like my candy bars, my ice cream,” she said, explaining that there’s no magical tip for living a long life. “The Lord has been good to me.”
The death of Vacaville crossing guard Robert “Bobby” Murray, 88, of Callison Elementary School moved me. Hundreds of students, staff, faculty, family, friends and community members gathered to remember him. He was a friend, they said, part of the very fabric of the Callison community.
Murray was truly interested in the students and their families, made everyone feel special, attendees said. “Mr. Bobby,” as he was known, had a big heart and an even more generous spirit.
As 10-year-old Naomi Studer explained, school was hard for her as she didn’t have many friends. Murray, however, was one.
“He was like a grandfather to me,” she told the crowd. “I could always count on one thing — he’d be there.”
A visit with the Sacramento-based Company G of the 10th Cavalry, aka the Buffalo Soldiers, at Peña Adobe Park in September had a time-travel vibe.
Dressed in period gear and toting authentic weaponry, soldiers took the community back in history, imparting tales this reporter had never heard and was motivated to delve deeper.
Finally, the tragic death of Fairfield’s Reynaldo Pacheco Jr., 40, was hard to let go of.
Pacheco was fatally shot in September while attempting to bring his oldest son home from a party within the city, where he was being attacked. He leaves behind a wife and three children.
A suspect has yet to be found, and the family awaits answers.