I can’t tell you how many times I’ve avoided putting Jim Wright on the front page of this newspaper over the years. I’ve probably cropped him out of a dozen photographs as he lurked in the background shot of a fire scene, murder trial or government meeting. Jim was the “enemy,” after all, working for the Press & Sun-Bulletin, our chief competitors down in Binghamton.

But on Wednesday, I put his picture on the front page with singular purpose. Above the fold. Jim’s untimely death struck a chord in all his journalistic brethren, but his life as a ubiquitous icon of Chenango life merited front page treatment – even from a rival newspaper. In an instant, he was no longer the competition, but a great reporter, community volunteer, colleague and friend.