Robert's Journalism Blog

The mics have been checked, the sound board is set, producer Johnny Ericson mouths out a countdown. Five, four, three, two, one, and all at once fiery passion, raw emotion, and lyrical flow erupt from the small closet made to be a soundproof recording booth. “The weapons are many, the people are few, Lord give me the strength to trust you. I can’t do it alone, I can’t even stand, my mind is the weapon that’ll kill me again.” A small sample of the song “Weapon,” by Alex Nelson, a communication major at LBCC, and an aspiring Chiristian hip hop artist. Nelson, 20, recently got the opportunity to work with Ericson to produce his first song. Ericson has a portion of his home set up to be a studio. “It wasn’t until I walked in there that I realized this was happening,” Nelson said. They talked, got all set up and Nelson walked into the somewhat cramped recording booth. Ericson had a headset to use to communicate with Nelson while he was inside. “We ran through the song, did some...

Students, faculty and staff alike filed into the LBCC boardroom with anticipation Tuesday night, as the college’s Board of Education was about to make history. A constant chirping filled the room, which sounded like the spring birds we’ve all been hearing in the last few weeks, but was merely feedback coming from the speakers of board members on the video conference call. Who would be the seventh president of LBCC? LBCC Board Chairman Jim Merryman’s face took up three screens at the start of the meeting at 6:30 p.m. sharp. “I am so pleased to announce that our choice for LBCC’s next president is Dr. Lisa Avery .” He went on, “Dr. Avery has a proven track record developing and maintaining key community partnerships, navigating the legislative landscape in Salem, and championing important diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives.” After Merryman had finished, he called for a motion to name Avery LBCC’s next president. After a motion and a second, the board voted unanimo...

If you don’t already know, tax season is upon us, which means it’s time to file. If you don’t know what that means or how to go about doing so, no need to worry, Linn-Benton Community College can help this year! LBCC is partnering with Single Stop USA and Tax Time Allies to provide free tax filing. If your annual income is $66,000 or less you may qualify for free tax filing services, which you can do online at home or at the computer labs at LBCC. Be sure to have at the very least your Social Security number for anyone on your return, any W2 forms from all the jobs you’ve worked in the last year, any 1099 or 1098 forms, and any child care information you might have. Using the Single Stop website at https://singlestoptax.org/selfprep will take you to a survey that will help you determine what you may qualify for when filing your taxes. Then it will redirect you based on your answers to the appropriate website for filing your taxes online, such as https://freefile.intuit.com/ (Tu...

If you’ve been to south town Corvallis anytime in the last week, you may have noticed some new signs -- “Slow Down!” -- on the side of the road near the overpass and First Alternative Co-op. Those signs were put up by protesters attempting to get drivers to slow down near the crosswalks located there and further down Highway 99. If you happen to be going through near rush hour, you may have even caught protesters crossing and holding up traffic in an additional attempt to get drivers to slow down. These protests all started on Jan. 10 after Rhiana Daniel, an 11-year-old girl, was struck by a driver in a Nissan Leaf, Peter Eschwey, 45, on Jan. 8 at the crosswalk near the 1000 block of South Third Street, according to police. She passed away the next day, marking the third fatality near the block in just 18 months. A memorial was set up on the mid island within the crosswalk. Large amounts of colorful flowers dampened by the cold and rain can be seen. A soaked pink teddy bear rest...

A Little About Me Hello my name is Robert Greco! I am currently a student at Linn Benton and this is my first term here! I'm enjoying it so far. I am also a school bus driver for Student Transportation of America, which serves Corvallis school district. On the weekends I enjoy playing and learning new songs on guitar, going and serving in my local church, and watching sports and playing video games with friends.I decided to go back to college after previously attending Oregon State University to expand my opportunities and learn more skills. I am currently a business major, and may plan to open my own business someday. I put journalism class in my schedule because I needed to find a class that fit my busy work schedule as a bus driver, and had, had experience in high school with journalism. I thought it would be fun/interesting to dive back into reporting and writing for a paper again. In this class I hope to improve my interviewing skills, my writing style, and learn how to ...