As in most businesses, over time the people you work with change. The television news business is the same, though at News Channel 8 we're pretty fortunate in that many of the people who work here, tend to be with us for some time.

But "life happens" as the saying goes, and opportunities arrive sometimes when you least expect them. That is the case for Team 8 Investigator Alan Cohn, who is leaving our newsroom today to continue his award-winning career as an investigative journalist for the ABC affiliate in Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida.

In the eight years Alan has been with News Channel 8, he has broken a countless number of truly significant stories, including a series of reports into quality control questions at Sikorsky Aircraft in their production of the military's Black Hawk helicopters. Those reports earned Alan and our newsroom a 2007 George F. Peabody Award, recognized as one of the highest honors in television.

I speak on behalf of all Alan's colleagues here, when I say that we have the proverbial mixed emotions for him. On the one hand we are sorry to lose his abilities and contributions to our newscasts, and on the other we are happy for him to have a chance to move closer to parts of his family and to continue reporting the kind of stories that might not otherwise see the light of day.

Aside from being an excellent journalist, Alan is also a great colleague and friend, and we will miss his presence in our newsroom. We hope you'll join us in wishing Alan, his wife and children the very best as they start a new chapter in their lives.

Tuesday’s kidnapping and hostage standoff in South Windsor, led to an ethical dilemma inside our newsroom through the afternoon. How do we handle covering a story--where the police have specifically asked us not to broadcast the same story?

News Channel 8 reporter Bob Wilson interviews South Windsor police officer during hostage standoff, July 7, 2009.

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As my colleague Jeff Bailey noted in an earlier post here, we were expecting some people to exercise their constitutional rights tonight and protest airing of the ABC News special "Prescription for America" that was broadcast from 10 to 11pm (and continued on a special edition of Nightline at 11:35pm) on News Channel 8. (We were expecting them because they emailed us to announce their event.)

In fact, about two dozen people did show up outside our Elm street studios in New Haven tonight holding signs, chanting slogans and being cheered on by the occasional honking of passing cars.

I went out and spoke to the people gathered at about 9pm, first to tell them that we would be shooting some video of them exercising their free speech for our late newscast and then to ask why they were protesting a program that hadn't been broadcast yet?

Their answers were similar in tone, a few people quoted the "talking point" that they had read or heard that there wouldn't be anyone in the ABC audience that wasn't hand picked by ABC, and there would be no opposition voices to President Obama. There were others who told me that they just oppose any kind of government run health care plan--even though they admit there hasn't been a plan actually drafted yet, so far there are just conversations about what each side thinks should or should not be in a final plan. A couple of people expressed their opinions about the legitimacy of Mr. Obama being the President, reciting the theories held by some that he hasn't been "proven" to be a US Citizen.

Let me say that every opinion didn't appear to be shared by everyone present, and even though I asked some sincere questions about what these people saw as media bias that they hadn't even really seen yet, the conversation was lively--but never degraded to the kind of name calling and insulting of obviously sincerely held opinions-- that so often seems to be the mainstay of talk radio programs these days.

I asked everyone to try to take the time to actually watch the ABC News special and decide after doing so, whether or not their expectations had been realized.

Though I suspect many will see my take as somehow "towing the company line", I watched a good portion of the broadcast tonight, and I was struck by how much ABC anchors Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer worked at bringing up the objections and concerns about the President's ideas on how best to tackle the issue of providing health care for all Americans. Certainly not every question was answered, or every concern resolved, but I would say that I was satisfied by how ABC worked to present a balanced program, that was by no means a one sided "infomercial" only supporting the President's agenda. At least in my opinion.

So did you watch? What was your take? Whether or not you agree with the President or his opponents on the issue--did ABC News present a balanced program about an issue that impacts every one of us? We'd like to hear your opinions.

After spending years, and we're serious about that timeframe-it's been since 1998 that WTNH-DT signed on the air as the state's first digital television station-we've been waiting on the day that finally passed last Friday. That was when the Channel 8 transmitter was turned off the air for the final time, and WTNH joined the rest of the television stations in the United States in transitioning to digital-only operations.

More simply put, we made the long awaited switch to DTV.

A number of viewers, those who don't use cable, satellite of a telephone company service to get their television signals, had to make the switch too. Switching to newer digital sets or getting a digital converter box was what was required, though for people living some distance from our transmitter site in Hamden, a new antenna was also a "must have" for those making the switch.

We hope your switch went smoothly, no matter how you see News Channel 8 and MyTV9. But we'd like to know from those of you who may still be having issues. In particular, we'd like to know where you are (as in what town or city) if you are still having problems--so we can pass the information along to those agencies that are evaluating how the switch went, and if there needs to be some adjustments in its aftermath.

Just drop us a comment below with your experience.

We're all saddened over the tragic events at Wesleyan University and the shooting death of Johanna Justin-Jinich. As police search for their suspect, identified as Stephen Morgan, a number of local and national news organizations, including News Channel 8 and WTNH.com, as well as Wesleyan University itself, posted or aired a picture of a man in front of a blue background that was identified as Stephen Morgan. Middletown Police now say that picture was NOT the suspect.

Below is a 2007 picture released by Middletown police of their suspect Stephen Morgan.

"It should be noted that Mr. Morgan was last seen with thicker facial hair than is depicted in the photo, and had shoulder length hair in the back, with sparse hair coverage on top," Middletown POlice Lieutenant Liseo wrote in an e-mail.

Unless you've been out of the country somewhere (except perhaps Mexico) you've likely heard a lot about the outbreak/pandemic and accompanying frenzy over the "swine flu". As Matthew wrote us in an e-mail today, "If the U.S. government is referring to the Swine Flu as H1N1, how come media outlets such as WTNH are still referring to it as Swine Flu?" Good Question.

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In the past week, we have gotten an increase in the number of calls and emails asking why we sometimes address the 44th President of the United States as "Mr. Obama" or even "Mr. President", instead of always saying the more formal "President Obama".

It seems that for some viewers and readers, the idea of not connecting the title and the man's name every single time we refer to him, may represent some kind of not-too-subtle attempt on our part to show a lack of respect.

Nothing could still be farther from the truth.

Because it was almost exactly one year ago I wrote a posting here to the WTNH.com blog, explaining the history of why it is neither disrespectful or impolite to address the man separately from the office he holds. I wrote then about our use of "Mr. Bush", after establishing in a story that he was the President. You can read that post by clicking this link: right here.

So we are consistent in our policy on this, and no, it doesn't change depending on the age, race or even the political party of the person elected.

We're not the only news organization who follows this practice. Mark Knoller, the longtime CBS Radio correspondent at the White House, talks more about the practice in an online post that you can read by clicking here.

As always, thanks for the feedback to us.

Today was the last day the Rocky Mountain News in Denver was published. The last editions rolled off the press just two months before the paper was to celebrate its 150th anniversary.

The News was the latest victim of a "perfect storm" made up of a business being rocked by the rise of news on the internet, slamming headlong into an economy that is falling like a giant wave, seemingly threatening to sweep everyone's future out to sea in its wake.

Like many businesses in our nation, the situation that has fallen on the business of journalism in general, and newspapers in particular, is downright depressing.

And it's not a story that is only happening somewhere else. Here in Connecticut, the Hartford Courant is slashing some 100 positions this week and the company that owns the New Haven Register filed for bankruptcy last weekend. It's not just newspapers either. Radio and television stations are taking severe steps to try to ensure their ability to survive the current economic crisis--including this one, where we've had to make some very difficult cuts in our newsroom earlier this year.

Laura Marquez of ABC News covering this story for World News Tonight referenced how the New Britain Herald was on the verge of closing its doors, before being rescued along with the Bristol Press by entrepreneur Michael Schroeder. (You can see her story by clicking here) The Herald's Executive Editor Marc Levy told Marquez about the potential loss of a paper "I think that you lose a lot of content that you can't get anywhere else."

Amen to that.

All journalists have a big competitive streak inside, but all of us want to have good people to compete against. With millions of people hard hit in these troubled times, it's not likely that many will mourn the death of a newspaper, because we're all too worried for our own jobs and what might happen next to us.

There hasn't been a call for a government bailout of anyone in the journalism industry and there isn't likely to be one. Those in power may not share the sentiment of former Timemagazine managing editor Walter Isaacson who told ABC's Marquez "The type of journalism that a daily newspaper does is indispensable to holding people accountable in the town, to bringing us together as communities, and to giving us the information needed to help a democracy."

Amen to that too.

There are those who will say that the newspapers who close down are nothing like the big auto makers who keep saying they might have to do the same any time now. The price must be paid for bad business decisions made.

But could someone tell us how a car manufacturer ever held those in power accountable or helped preserved our democracy? The employees of the Rocky Mountain News told us in their last edition today that it was an honor to serve their readers.

Let us thank them, and all those journalists who have lost their jobs in this current crisis, for their service.