Nudged deep within hundreds of other 2007 look-backs that are starting to make us go crazy wondering if this forgettable year will ever end are a series of short stories by Gazette reporters about some of the stories they’ve covered this year. Most of them are of the “it’s such an emotional issue it’s hard to stay objective” style, but there are some interesting ones too that I’ll outline in bold below.

They’re posted online in three parts.

Part 1

• Peggy Curran aboard the CCGS Amundsen: Being objective is hard when you’re living with the people you’re writing about for 10 days in the arctic.
• Jeff Heinrich at the reasonable accommodation hearings: An anti-semite refuses to give his name to the Jewish anglo reporter. Except Heinrich isn’t Jewish.

Part 2

• Sue Montgomery on the trial and sentencing of the murderer of gas station attendant Brigitte Serre: How on Earth do you stab someone 72 times and not feel remorse?
• Michelle Lalonde on asbestos in Thetford Mines: Residents and workers accept health risks inherent in asbestos mining as an occupational hazard.
• William Marsden on the de la Concorde overpass collapse: I was right, the transport department was wrong about a telltale visible crack which should have warned engineers about an imminent collapse.
• René Bruemmer on the life of fire victim Joe B.G.: Not every fatality is an anonymous nobody. Asking a simple question can sometimes prompt a long and interesting story.
• Linda Gyulai on the City of Montreal’s cellphone recycling program: Not every story comes with a press release. Even the ones that make people look good.
• David Johnston on a story about drug addicts: Sometimes the more interesting story isn’t the one that fits the article.

Part 3

• Elizabeth Thompson on Parliament’s recognition of Quebec as a nation: Harper’s stranglehold on the media means some stories just don’t get reported. And many times, “no comment” means no story.
• Marian Scott on CKUT’s Avalanche show: The intellectually disabled are people too.
• Monique Beaudin on reducing her garbage: Projects continue long after the story is written (it’s now developed into a blog).
• Brenda Branswell on the victims of teacher Renwick Spence: There’s no easy way to ask someone to tell you about how he was sexually abused.
• Max Harrold on a kid who survived a 3-storey fall out a window: Reporters will move furniture for you if asked.
• Paul Cherry on the sentencing of mob boss Vito Rizzuto: Jail can kill arrogance.
• Katherine Wilton on a fire that killed five people, including former Gazette employee Kurtis Hansen (someone I knew when I was there): Even seasoned reporters dread speaking to victims’ families, and newspaper managers do have a heart sometimes.
• Julian Armstrong on a fundraising dinner organized by recent immigrants: Food brings us all together.