(Nov. 2nd, 2008)  Bill:

In May, 2008, we received some nice letters about our coverage of the mud slide in the canyon...

Bill, I just have to tell you what a wonderful job you do covering Sierra Madre. I just finished reading your Friday a.m. edition. Excellent, as usual.   J.R., Sierra Madre

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Excellent coverage, Bill, of the rain and canyon mud. I followed your Woodland coverage until 3am.   D.M, Sierra Madre

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Once again, great coverage but when do you sleep?  P.O., Sierra Madre

During and after the Santa Anita fire in April of 2008, we received dozens of comments about our coverage of the event. 

Added June 12, 2008 - video testimonial from Mayor Kurt Zimmerman

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Sunday, May 4, 4:09am

Hi Bill,

You might remember me from Rotary (I was President in 2000) and also seeing each other around town.  I have not been around lately because a career move took me to Germany in 2005.  I still have my house on Carter Ave which I am currently renting.

Like many, many others, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your tireless and accurate news coverage of the fire.  Your website was the first place I looked (after seeing the LA Times article on my Google News page) and like a loyal friend, your website offered me the latest news.

Because of your efforts, I was able to reduce my worries that everything (my house, my tenants, my beloved Sierra Madre) had gone up in flames.  There was no other good source of news (except the Foothills news blog)  What was interesting is that due to the time change, I was able to inform some of my SM and LA friends of the fire before they knew about it -- all from my remote location in Europe!

The next time I am in Sierra Madre, I am going to look you up and buy you a coffee (or better yet, a beer!)

You sir, are one of "Sierra Madre's Treasures"

Sincerely and with many greetings from Germany,

Tom Hale

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Wednesday, 12:50pm

K.

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Wednesday, 12:42pm

Hello Bill,

Thanks so very much for the updates on the fire. It was a great relief to my friends and family to be able to be kept informed.

E.

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Wednesday, 10:44am

Bill, you did a great job. I was happy to refer people to your site since it had the best coverage. I am amazed at the number of hits, but imagine that people spread the message through emails, word of mouth, and phone calls. I called attention to your site through the fcblog and my own emails.

Hope you are catching up on your sleep.

M

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Wednesday, 9:49am

We put up a family who was evacuated on Sunday night. While everyone was busy getting beds ready and the kids comfortable, I was searching for news and found your site and was amazed at the frequency of updates.

I kept a macbook computer out on the kitchen island with your site loaded for all to use. During the two days, as we all would regularly come from our separate areas of the house to the center of the kitchen, your web page was a great focal point and enhanced the whole experience.

Thank you for all you did!

E

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Wednesday, 9:18am

Many, many thanks for the superb job you did keeping us all informed about the fires!

H.

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Wednesday, 8:04am

G.

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Tuesday, 10:13pm

I know you weren't on the front line fighting the fire, and lord knows those folks deserve our gratitude forever, but you were really there for those of us who stayed at home, out of the way, wondering what the heck was going on out there.

I know that I sent your link around the country to let all my friends and family have a contact with our city, and I know lots of others who did too.  We even have friends in Sweden who followed your coverage.

You were the only source we had - the city was so far behind - and you need to know how important that was to us. 

Thanks Bill!

D.
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Tuesday, 6:48pm

C.

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Tuesday, 6:05pm

G and D

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Tuesday, 5:57pm

Bill,

Thank you so much for your website.  It is wonderful to know you have a place to find out just what is going on.  You provide a very important service to the people of Sierra Madre,

N

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Tuesday, 5:13pm

THANKS for all the work you've done Bill....we haven't slept either since our home was 400 feet away from the line of fire.

C.

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Tuesday, 4:59pm

Hi, Bill,

Spent a while this aft. reading all the comps and appreciation re your coverage of the fire...and also read all your info and updates. What a fantastic job you're doing!

Happily, your community seems to value your work.

F.

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Tuesday, 4:40pm

Want to let you know how much we appreciate your up-to-the-minute reporting on the fire.  Our family owns a number of canyon properties and family members live in the Sierra Madre canyon.  We are former Sierra Madre residents now living in Oregon.  Until we found your website the quantity and quality of information from other sources was frustrating and disappointing.  Our thanks to you for excellent reporting and especially to the firefighters and fire management personnel who saved the canyon and hillside homes.  Kudos for a great job!

K

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Tuesday, 12:46pm

Thank you so very much for all your hard work and dedication to keeping the community informed about the fire this past weekend. I've enjoyed sierramadrenews.net for years but I now have an entirely new appreciation of it. Your site had more accurate, regularly updated information than the city or news sites, and I've relied on you and the Foothill Cities blog for details and perspective these past few days.

Now that the fire is no longer an imminent threat to Sierra Madre, I hope you are finally allowing yourself to GET SOME SLEEP!

You're a good person and an invaluable reporter. Thanks again for all that you've given us.

Best,

B.

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Tuesday, 12:46pm

Thank you...for providing the most comprehensive and up-to-date information during the past few days.

You deserve tons of kudos in addition to a good night's sleep.

S.

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Tuesday, 11:36am

Bill,
My family and I live on Alegria in Sierra Madre, so we were among those eager for information all weekend when it was not clear whether we would have to evacuate or not. Night before last, when the fire jumped back over to our side and engulfed the mountain, we evacuated on the advice of the police and will be returning this morning. I watched the city website and channel 3 vigilantly with frustration at how little information was updated and how infrequently. It was a friend in Monrovia that discovered your website and from that point forward I felt really informed about what was happening. We made our decisions based on your reports. Instead of spending time writing individual e-mails to people all over the country to update, we started sending them your link. We  got to the place with our evacuation hosts where we would ask each other "what does Bill say"? Good journalism, it can be argued, makes you feel like "you were there." In this case, we WERE there, and your reports let us know what was happening to us.
Thanks for your diligence and your lost nights of sleep on behalf of the community. You are a good reporter, you are a great neighbor.

L.

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Tuesday, 9:41am

Bill,

YOU ARE THE MAN.

Great job on the fire.  I depended on your reports as the most rapid source of comprehensive wide ranging news. Glad you got some sleep, well deserved.  Thank you very much, 

Tim Hayden

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Tuesday, 9:38am

This has been so useful.  People call our office all day and night plus calling us at home.  I can give out your web site and know the people will feel better than just listening to the news!!

C.

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Tuesday, 9:22am

Bill,

Thank you so much for your awesome work these last few days.   We didn't find out about your site until mid Sunday, and were very grateful since neither the city's other main page nor channel 3 had anything more recent that 6:30 AM.

Thanks again for your awesome work.

S.

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Tuesday, 9:14am

Bill,

Thanks for the great work done keeping everyone informed about the fire. I live in New York City, but have quite a few family members in Sierra Madre including grandparents who live off of North Auburn Ave.

From what I hear the fire burned down to a retaining wall that separates their driveway from the hillside, so you can imagine my concern.

It was a little tough getting updates because of the time difference and lack of Southern California news in the Big Apple. Thanks for giving the extra effort.

J.

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Tuesday, 8:55am

C.

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Tuesday, 8:47am

I totally agree! As usual, good job, Bill.

J.

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Tuesday, 8:41am

Dear Bill:

Congratulations on your coverage.  Almost every Sierra Madre resident (who's paying attention) knows that we have one terrific, dedicated reporter in town!  Now that the fire is moving towards Pasadena, get some sleep!!!

E

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Tuesday, 7:51am

Your work during the fire was so appreciated ... I hope everyone takes the time to tell you that.   Your concern for us all is amazing, and our family really relied on your info.

Thanks soooo much,

G.  (on the fire line in the lower canyon)

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Tuesday, 7:19am

Bill --
We are vacationing in rural Nevada. You have been our only news link -- no TV or radio here, and since we have dial-up Internet connection on the road, the major media sites load too slowly with all their bells and whistles.  We check your site daily for all local news -- at home and away -- and greatly appreciate your service to the community.
C and M

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Tuesday, 7:12am

Hi Bill,

I also want to thank you for all your updates.  You're site has been the best and most reliable source for information on the fire….Thanks again for your site.  I hope that you are now catching up on sleep.

-M

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Tuesday, 7:09am

Hello,

My husband and I live at ________. We were evacuated on Monday morning at 3 a.m.

Thank you very much for keeping us up to date on what is happening. I haven't been able to glean many details from the City of Sierra Madre website as in the beginning the updates were only about every 5 or so hours and the site was down this morning.

My husband is now working at the command center in the amateur radio emergency team, mainly staying there if needed as there's always communication problems (technical) between the police and the fire department.

Again, thank you,

L and B

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Tuesday, 6:17am

Your site has always been my first source of news about Sierra Madre, but your coverage during the fire has been amazing, extraordinary, and a true public service.  Thank you for keeping so many people so well-informed during such a chaotic time (and for being so careful about the accuracy of your information!).  Thanks again,

M

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Tuesday, 5:55am

Bill,

I live in another state, and I just wanted to thank you for your updates. I grew up in that area and have family and friends who still live there, so I’ve appreciated being able to keep up with where the fire is and whether or not I need to worry about my friends and family. One person was evacuated yesterday, but thanks to your site I know she’ll have a home to return to without having to call every hour to ask how it’s going.

Thanks again,

J.

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Tuesday, 4:18am

I just want to thank you for your coverage of the recent fire in Sierra Madre.  Clearly you put in many hours to keep the citizens informed and I really appreciate it.  Thank you for all your hard work, you're a good guy.
C

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Tuesday, 1:19am

Bill, you have done such a great job.  Really.  And it is way cool that you posted all the nice comments on your site.  You motivated me to make a nice comment of my own.

My comment to you is GO TO BED.  SLEEP.

We will all survive.  We would rather have you well rested and on top of your game.

Thank you for all of your hard work.  You ROCK.

R.

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Monday, 9:29pm

Hi,

We’re on _______ between ___ and ____ (fellow Sierra Madreans).  We  are appreciative of all your efforts to keep the community updated.  Thanks for losing so much sleep. 

T

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Monday, 8:29pm

B.

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Monday, 7:22pm

Hey Bill,

…Get some sleep and thanks for all the great info!

T.

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Monday, 7:19pm

Bill -

Just wanted to send you a heartfelt THANK YOU for all the work you've been doing in getting real and accurate information out to the public, unlike the rest of the so-called "news" media. There's been so much dis-information about this situation that I know that all of us in the canyon appreciate your efforts as much as I do. A sincere thank you from all of us...

B.

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Monday, 5:37pm

I live in Pasadena Glen up against the mountains and I have been checking your sight regularly, for obvious reasons. Thanks a whole lot. A lot of us locals really appreciate this. It's the most up to date source of information we have on what we should be anticipating at this point.

M.

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Monday, 5:03pm

Hello Bill:

…Thanks for your updates and coverage of the fire.

C.

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Monday, 4:53pm

Bill -

I wanted to take a moment and say thank you for your non-stop coverage of this trying time for our city. I get periodic updates from (names withheld) during the day but your website keeps pace and often has additional interesting and helpful details. I am checking it regularly and I am sure many worried residents have found the News Net an important source of what people often need the most in times like this - information.  Thank you again for your devotion to the community.

J

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Monday, 4:21pm

M.

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Monday, 4:13pm

Hey Bill,

Thanks for the great reporting...

Best regards

C

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Monday, 3:43pm

Hey, just wanted to drop you a line after we met this morning on my truck at Lima and Highland.  Wanted to thank you for your continued coverage of the fires. And say that it was great meeting you.

Glad someone is looking out for local coverage, since the networks seem to be giving us only a little airtime.

Your site is now my first destination for Sierra Madre news!

Thanks again!

P

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Monday, 8:25am

We live over in Pasadena Glen and have turned to your web site for the only on-going, accurate source of information on the fire. You are providing an incredible public service and I wanted to express my gratitude for the amount of time that you are taking to cover this and get the news out.

Many thanks,

M

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Monday, 8:01am - Sent to the FCBlog.com, but we got a copy, too.

I'm sure you all know that Bill Coburn must have stayed up all night, posting pics and updates to his site.  … Bill has very helpful information on his blog.
You're amazing, Bill!!
D

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Monday, 7:58am

Bill,

…Get some sleep, we appreciate the updates. Keep up the good work.

Thanks,

T

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Monday, 7:49am

Hi Bill -

I just wanted to say thank you for the coverage you've been posting - it truly is the only local news we're getting and it has been a comfort to be able to read your updates.  Great job, Bill!

Many thanks,

D

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Monday, 7:45am

Bill,

You are doing a phenomenal job covering the fire.  I hope you are getting to sell some of this stuff. I told everyone at Beantown this AM to go to your website for the updates.

E

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Monday, 7:08am

Thanks for the website -- its providing the most up to date info (other than me calling the house to see if the answering machine is still going).

J

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Monday, 5:06am

Thanks for covering this thing so well.

Cheers,

M

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Monday, 3:53am

Thanks for your updates, since the information control went to the USDA  nothing we need to know is coming from the City, channel 3 or local news.

Thanks for being there

J

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Monday, 3:18am

Bill, superb coverage on your website!! 

P.

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Sunday, 8:17pm

Hey Bill,

From what I could find, your website has been the best source of real-time info for coverage of the fire.

Great job!

K

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Sunday, 7:20pm

Thanks for the good updates. 

A.

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Sunday, 11:05am

Dear Bill,

Just wanted to say thanks for your coverage of the fire. We are up here above Carter and have to stay put or they won't let us back in. Am checking your site from time to time. Also looking at comments on the fc blog.

M.

Thank you for a bringing back memories of where I grew up. I lived in Sierra Madre from 1960 to 1975 and attended St Rita's. I had heard it was closed; too bad, it was a good school. I now live in sunny Florida and plan to visit my old home town soon. Love your web page. Good work!

Sincerely,

R. M. Johnson, Florida   

Bill,

Just a note to say "Thanks" for providing our village an electronic media source for local news. I can imagine the time and energy you spend to keep the site up to date and you deserve credit for the effort you make and their results. Great job! Have a Happy New Year. Denis K., Sierra Madre

"...I enjoyed meeting and talking with you at the Woman's Club

hosting of the March Chamber of Commerce gathering ... Many

thanks for all the support that you have been giving us ... I

really enjoyed your summary of Stephanie Edwards presentation at our

Celebrity Luncheon on February 22 ..."

Cheers,

Mary Carney, Sierra Madre Woman's Club

"Thanks so much for including the Howard Whalen Sculpture Garden on your website.  We DID receive some Wistaria Day visitors that found us through your efforts.  That was encouraging!" 

All our best,

Cathy Flammer, Howard Whalen Sculpture Garden

To: Bill Coburn

Thank you so much for your Mt. Wilson Trail Race website!  It has generated a lot of publicity for us that we greatly appreciate.  Webb-Martin Realtors and the Buccaneer Lounge have given us donations and have asked us not to forget them as a sponsor on the website...Thank you so much!

Artemisa Pena, Recreation Coordinator Aquatics & Special Events, Mt. Wilson Trail Race Committee

"I check two things every morning, your website and the Wall Street Journal." --  V.E., Sierra Madre

I've seen the site lately; you sure are getting lots done. Congratulations!!!! 

Anyway, keep up the good work.

Dr. Theresa Smith, Sierra Madre Chiropractor

page! That's just the kind of encouragement we need to "tip" this

project.  Your web site is truly an asset to our (non-profit) organization -- as to

Sierra Madre and all that surrounds it.

C.S., Sierra Madre

Thanks for printing the list of concerts in

the park. Couldn't find mine. You are great!

Lucile F., Sierra Madre

It's great! What a pleasure it will be to send

http://www.sierramadrenews.net/4thofjuly2k2mainb.htm back to my dad in

Pennsylvania who so loves the 4th in Sierra Madre, but hasn't been able to

make it out in years.

We really appreciate all your hard work on this.

Thanks!

Dan R. (the father in the egg toss winner team), Sierra Madre

Your website is a community service, and I appreciate it. 

Ward C. - Sierra Madre

Hi Bill,

Wow! What a surprise. Thank you. I was in Once Upon Time last week

purchasing some birthday gifts, etc. and saw the entry box. I took the

opportunity to go to several shops that I hadn't yet been to so I could

check out Sierra Madre. I never thought I would win.

I moved my office to Sierra Madre from Pasadena in Dec. I love being in

Sierra Madre! ! My clients like it too. It is such a lovely town. 

Thank you again,

Aleta K. - (Aleta won the Grand Prize of dinner for four at Restaurant Lozano and champagne opening night tickets to the Sierra Madre Playhouse in our First Annual Sierra Madre Super Syber Shopping Sale Extravaganza.)