A few days after the horrible scene in Manchester where eight employees of Hartford Distributors were shot to death, two others wounded and the gunman then took his own life--we continue to be asked by a small number of people why we have used the word "Massacre" when describing this story. This criticism is usually accompanied by a question or even an insult to our own sensitivities, asking why we can't think of the families and friends of the victims.

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After some discussion amongst our newsroom staff today, I've made the decision not to post the full text of the arrest warrant in the case of Francsico Cruz, the 19 year old who is charged with the brutal rape and murder of 16 year-old Chloe Ottman last week in Waterbury.

It is not the kind of decision I make lightly, because our stated goal is to be as transparent as we can in bringing you the news each day. Whenever it is possible to share with you documents such as this, we usually do so, if only to allow those who want the ability to read all of the details of a particular crime.

But in this case, the horrific details on what the suspect alleged he did, are so graphic and disturbing that we were uncomfortable making them too easily accessible in their entirety.

Our reporter Erin Cox and web editor Rebecca Santillo have done an excellent job distilling the key details of what allegedly happened into our stories that will appear here at wtnh.com. They are graphic enough to tell you the story properly.

The full warrant will likely appear elsewhere online and that will be someone else's decision on what is acceptable for them to publish.

All I can say is that in 30-plus years of working in newsrooms and reading police documents about terrible crimes, this was just about the worst warrant I've ever come across, and so we won't be posting it here.

Each year, the Boston/New England chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences conducts its annual EMMY awards competition. While there is a national EMMY competition for the big networks--there is also our regional version, which is a pretty big honor for those of us who work in television across New England.

Some of these awards are for the people you see on the screen, many are for the people who work behind the scenes to produce the programs and the various elements that go into them. For many years, stations paid for the entries to be submitted in an effort to garner as many awards in the station's name as possible. No knock on the Academy intended, but it isn't an inexpensive proposition.

So, like many things in our ever belt-tightening world, we've cut back on extra things like awards submissions this year, and left it to individuals to deem their work worthy enough to submit for consideration.

We are exceptionally proud of our colleagues and their nominations for these prestigious honors, as the best in television for 2009.

News Specialty Report-Business/Consumer
"Legacy lost: The Plight of the Lobstermen"
Adam Francis, Editor
James Muro, Reporter
[Watch the story here]

News Specialty Report-Sports News
"Fast Track Dreams: From Go-Carts to Glory"
Adam Francis, Editor
James Muro, Reporter

Sports Feature/Segment
"Stags Country: Greg Chase"
Noah Finz, Reporter
Casey Timmeny, Photographer/Editor
[Watch the story here]

Editor, News-No Time Limit
"Composite"
Adam Francis, Editor

Magazine Program/Special
"Connecticut Style: Food, Fashion, Fitness & Fun"

On-Camera Talent Program-Host/Moderator
Sonia Baghdady, Co-host "Connecticut Style"
Desiree Fontaine, Co-host "Connecticut Style"

On Camera Talent Reporter-General Assignment
James Muro, Reporter

Writer, News
James Muro, Writer/Reporter

The EMMY awards will be presented on Saturday, May 22nd and needless to say, we will have our fingers crossed for all of our nominees.

(EMMY is a registered trademark of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences)

This morning’s email brought a handful of messages from viewers who found it troubling that we would choose to show the footage from the dashboard camera inside a Milford PD cruiser, which documented the horrible crash from this past June that claimed two teenager’s lives.

“What were you thinking???”, one viewer demanded to know.

Still image from police dashboard camera video prior to fatal crash in Orange.

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Kristen Cusato will be returning to the News Channel 8 airwaves this weekend, at least on a fill-in basis.

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Working in an era of news where print text no longer cuts it and people can't make an appointment to always watch the broadcast at a certain time of day, we as journalists depend heavily on new "breaking news" alerts sent through venues such as Facebook and Twitter.

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In the days that followed the first report on the disappearance of Yale graduate student Annie Le, there was no end of speculation, innuendo and pure rumors about what had happened to her, from the tabloid "runaway bride" to the horrific crime of murder.

We've asked many questions of the many people surrounding this case, and heard many of the 'facts' and 'this-person-did-it' whispers from all kinds of 'sources' on the street. By Tuesday afternoon the name of one person was beginning to be mentioned more than any other.

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On this Friday night, the news is that Walter Cronkite has passed away at age 92.

There will be countless tributes in the hours and days to come, both to the man and his remarkable career as the anchorman of "The CBS Evening News" from 1962 to 1981. Charles Gibson, the current anchor of ABC's "World News" on our station, may have said it best tonight with these words to The New York Times: "He, as much as anyone, is responsible for developing network television news."

Gibson, along with Katie Couric who now anchors CBS's "Evening News" and Brian Williams who anchors NBC's "Nightly News", all owe something to the man who was once billed as "the most trusted man in America." Williams may have spoken for an entire generation of broadcast journalists, when he said, "Walter Cronkite was the man I grew up wanting to be."

Anyone working in television news, at least those of us of a certain age who grew up in the 60's and 70's, were likely inspired to join the profession in no small part, by watching Walter Cronkite's nightly national newscast. In many households, everything came to a halt each night, as soon as he said "Good Evening." He was the voice who informed the nation in both the best and the worst of times.

Charles Gibson also said that Walter Cronkite would always be "the gold standard." There simply can be no argument on that point.

On a personal note, I was working in the CBS Broadcast Center in New York, on the evening of Walter Cronkite's last night as anchorman of the CBS Evening News. I was watching a television monitor in offices in the same building, but at the same time nowhere near the studio where Cronkite sat and faced the cameras, saying for the final time, "and that's the way it is."

A colleague turned to me and said "and that's the end of an era."

It was true that March night in 1981, and it is again on this evening in July, 2009.