Or WICU could have asked my grandfather and he could have told them. I remember a few years back we drove by that cemetery and he gave me the low down (sort of speak). As to the sensationalism of broadcasting, that's how it is. In fact here in Detroit the news is SO sensational that Gina and I can't even watch without rolling our eyes every 2 minutes and scream at the anchors for being such dumb asses. You either get mediocre broadcasting (Erie) or ratings hungry monsters in markets like Detroit where the local news is virtually a tabloid style program.

As for the Erie School District --no surprise there (or ever). My lifetime of education in the public school system has taught me better (ironically). My kids are going to a private school.

I'm glad you wrote about the grave story, because I was going to. I couldn't believe how they treated the story, with stock footage of skeletons and spooky music. That's someone's headstone, not a joke.

The worst part is that this wasn't the last throwaway story of the news, that little cute story. This was the THIRD story of the night. Somebody thought this was more important then Rita, Katrina and all sorts of other stories.

Ugh. Local news...*shakes head*

I did not see the story televised but I am glad you cleared the air on this issue. In addition to being webmaster at 90.5 WERG, I am a professional genealogist and as you said could have found out the facts with just a trip to the library. Thanks so much for posting this.

Over-sensationalizing?! Are you friggin' kidding me? It was basically a cute little feature story on a slow news night. The library was long closed by the time we finished shooting and interviewing. We barely had time to put that little piece together and get it on the air, never mind investigate. We did however launch an investigation after receiving a bunch of phone calls and realizing people were really into this thing. Those of you who followed the rest of the week know, we went to the library the very next day (and yes, used google), discovered the Merline Ave. Cemetery, and the Rootsweb site, which led us to the possibility that the city leveled the cemetery in a shady manner. Eventually we were able to locate Genevive's other daughter near Las Vegas, and cleared up the whole mystery of the headstone. The question now is, did the city break any laws by desecrating this cemetery and leaving no trace of the headstones? As you know by now, we did find a number of other headstones around the area,but haven't been able to definitively trace any back to St. Mary's. Our investigation continues, but there are other stories to do in the meantime. Those of you who may have any knowledge whatsoever of the local news business know we have no I-Teams, or investigative departments. It's just one reporter trying to find the time to snoop around while working on two or three new stories a day, and trying to raise a family.

Since you all seem to know better methods of investigation, and have some time on your hands, I would appreciate any help you can offer. You can send me any tips, story ideas, or advice to scook@wicu12.com.