It seems as of late we have been busy chasing cougar or panther or whatever-the-cat-is sightings around the region.

We had another one come in last week from an area woman who spotted some paw prints near her work. We will write about this soon. We have been trying to verify with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources whether or not a cell phone photograph shows the paw prints of a large cat or something else.

I talked to a local public relations person this week and she claims she saw something of this nature a few years back. For a long period of time, she said she thinks people thought she was imagining the creature, but now she feels some validation that what she saw actually might have been a large black cat of some type.

It seems to me that we have had too many sightings for something not to be going on out there, but who knows.

I encourage residents to take a photograph or videotape any large black cats you happen to come across, of course staying enough distance to avoid any harm.

I also urge people to send us the photographs and videos and to contact the Telegraph news editors at (618) 463-2576, (618) 463-2515 at night or (618) 463-2560 during the day if you happen to see the fleeting black cat in the region. The only way we will prove there is such a thing is to get the right photograph or video.

If you see anything, I also encourage you to contact the local authorities.

A trip to Memphis, Tenn., provided an eye-opening glimpse to the civil rights movement and the work of one of the key leaders.

On Saturday, I drove to Memphis with retired Telegraph reporter Ande Yakstis to visit the National Civil Rights Museum.

I met with Barbara Andrews, museum currator, and Beverly Robertson, the organization’s president. The two and all the others at the museum were most gracious.

The museum captures the essence of the civil rights movement, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. assassination and much more. I will write a lot more about this in some stories and commentaries in the coming days.

The same holds true for the visit to Monumental Baptist Church in Memphis with Rev. Samuel “Billy” Kyles, the pastor and his congregation. Kyles is one of the last living leaders in the key inner circle King. He also was with him the last hour of his life and also tried to help him after he had been shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. The congregation and Kyles made us feel right at home and spent a considerable amount of time with us.

My question is how many of you have visited the National Civil Rights Museum? What are your thoughts?

I encourage readers to look for our upcoming series, videos and photos from the weekend. This will culminate the series I have worked on with Ande marking the 40th anniversary of King’s assassination.

I also urge residents to consider a trip to Memphis to see the museum if you haven’t visited before.

I attended the funeral of my uncle Bob Graner last week and in my quick trip there was able to connect with several relatives.

My cousin, Mike Graner, Bob’s son, was there and he gave an eloquent summary of his dad’s life at the end. He is now a medical researcher in the Raleigh-Durham area in North Carolina. He talked about fishing and some of the lessons he learned from his father out in the boat. It brought me back to memories of my own dad and tossing the line in the water from creeks and lakes.

It may sound odd, but now some of my best memories come from those trips to the fishing holes.

Mike Graner talked a little about his father, Bob, donating his body to medical science. I didn’t know of the donation until he died.

I don’t know if part of Bob’s reason for donating his body to science came from his son, Mike, having insulin-dependent diabetes from a very early age or not, or his own ailments that he battled in his 77 years of living. Or if the decision came from Mike’s work in his professional career as a researcher.

I always admired Bob Graner. He was a quiet man, not an ultra-talkative uncle, but he would always seemingly open up to me. Maybe it was the reporter in me, but I always able to get my relatives to carry on a detailed conversation.

Bob Graner was always working at track meets, basketball games and coaching. Those memories will be what I remember about him the most. As far as admiring him, I don’t think I have ever thought more of him than on the day of his funeral, not seeing his body because it had been donated to medical science to further research.

We need to think more carefully about the importance of medical research. We have so many ailments that we need to address and without research, we will never discover cures.

If you have a similar story, send an e-mail to me that I can post in my blog.

The City of Alton faced a difficult decision in regard to the annual fireworks celebration along the riverfront, but the decision to cancel the celebration was the right one.

City officials cancelled the celebration with plenty of notice to the public. The Mississippi River conditions made it impossible to have the festival along the riverfront this year.

Also, if one thinks about it, there wasn’t a good alternative for the city. I have heard some say that the display could have been held at Gordon Moore Park, but I don’t think that would have been possible.

I encourage people to have fun in their celebrations on July 4 and don’t drink and drive. The State Police and other law enforcement officials will be out in force.

If you get a moment, tell me about your plans for July 4 and your traditions. I think others would be interested.

I am still surprised at the apparent apathy of people to submit video and photos to our Web site.

It is such a good opportunity to showcase video and photos from the recent floods. We have seen an upsurge of contributed photos in recent days, but video submissions are still slow.

To submit videos these are the steps:

Go online at thetelegraph.com
Click on Start Here under latest submitted videos.
Create a free Brightcove account by following the on-screen directions.
Select a video from your hard drive and click upload video.

I also encourage people to submit photos. On The Telegraph home page look for the Community drop down and click on submit photos, then put a caption in and hit the browse button to find their art file, then hit upload.

Both processes are very simple and I hope people will take advantage of the availability.

The Telegraph has a limited staff and is trying to cover the highlights of the flood, but with your help can show much more. If you have a flood story tip, I suggest you call the newsroom City Desk at (618) 463-2576 or me at (618) 463-2560.

The news that broadcaster Tim Russert had died last week hit me hard.

I was recovering from LASIK surgery on Friday when I heard the news. I couldn’t see any of the highlights on CNN about his death, just listen, because my eyes were closed for six hours after the surgery.

It gave me some time to reflect and think about Russert’s impacting career. Russert was a member of NBC’s Meet the Press team for 17 years. The show is TV’s longest running show and has always filled gaps in the business.

He was found present during presidential debates and many on-air types of situations involving politics. Russert always tried to provide balance in his programming and questioning, something not present each day in television. He never forgot his roots and where he started his career.

One person said he provided deep knowledge and research into his programming. I know that will be missed.

At only 58, Russert seemed too young to die, but he leaves behind a legacy in journalism. I don’t think he will be forgotten any time soon and I will sure miss his style of journalism.

I would appreciate hearing from others about the loss of broadcaster Tim Russert.

On Friday of last week I took the plunge and had LASIK surgery on both of my eyes.

For years, I haven’t been able to see properly without glasses or contacts. On Friday, almost miraculously, that all seemed to change.

The surgery was not difficult. The hardest part of the whole surgical process was the anticipation, then the few minutes it took to go through with the process.

During the actual laser process of the eyes, I was asked to look at red and green dots several times, while the device did its thing on my corneas. Anyone who has had the procedure would know what I am talking about. My sense of smell has been what has gotten me through life and I could catch a scent of the burning of my cornea — not a pleasant thought.

I also won’t forget the computer saying, 27 seconds for the first cornea altering and 19 seconds for the second. Those were the longest 46 seconds of my life.

The six hours of waiting to open my eyes after surgery was an interesting process. I napped for about an hour and a half and listened to CNN the rest of the time. I was sad to learn of newsman Tim Russert’s death during the waiting period.

My wife, Victoria, and two girls, Savannah and Sierra, were wonderful during the process. I am a lucky man to have the three of them always watching out for me. Sierra even fed me at dinner because I couldn’t open my eyes. I’m sure they won’t forget that time with dad.

At first, my vision was cloudy, but now three days into it, each day my sight continues to improve. I keep grabbing for my glasses and trying to take my contacts out at night.

I hope I continue to progress and I am extremely thankful to be able to see without contacts and glasses.

I would like to hear your experience with LASIK if you have had one. Please send me a response to my blog if you have a personal story to tell.

Connor Broyles, 10, is on his way to becoming a national face in the fund-raising efforts for the American Diabetes Association in my opinion.

Broyles had another successful lemonade stand on Friday night at Alton High, raising more than $2,000. The money also is still coming in for the event.

Leslie Smith, Connor’s mother, told me about a gentlemen who filled out a raffle ticket on Friday night, who had tears in his eyes. As the gentleman walked closer, he told her about losing his 22-year-old son last July to diabetes. His son had encountered a blood sugar low and never woke up.

“That moved me,” Smith said. “It was very emotional.”

It’s an amazing story that a young man, only 10, can become one of the fund-raising leaders for the regional diabetes efforts. He has done the fund-raising totals with a simple concept – a lemonade stand – and collected thousands of dollars for diabetes research.

Broyles wants to be a diabetes physician, his mother told me. I can see one day, young Connor becoming a young man who does gallantly work toward assisting others with his illness in the medical profession and working toward a cure. Through the efforts of Connor Broyles and others like him, one day we will have a cure for diabetes.

Each day, times are changing at The Telegraph.

We are encouraging schools to e-mail honor roll and colleges to e-mail Dean’s list information to  schools at thetelegraph.com. We have a designated area set up to receive the material. If the information is e-mailed in a Microsoft Word format, we will publicize the information at The Telegraph Web site under Community, Honor Rolls.

We have nearly an unlimited space potential on the Web, so we are capable of publishing the honor rolls and Dean’s list info almost as soon as we get it. For those who don’t know it, our Web site is averaging more than 1.8 million Web views a month, so there is a good chance the honors rolls will be viewed.

We also encourage readers to submit letters to the editor via e-mail to  dan_brannan at thetelegraph.com. It’s the easiest way to send them and process the information.

If you have questions, e-mail at my listed e-mail address above.

On Saturday, I traveled to Quincy with former Telegraph reporter Ande Yakstis to conduct interviews with John Larry Ray, another one of James Earl Ray’s brothers.

Before the trip, I didn’t have any idea of what to expect, but it was a fascinating day. I enjoyed going to Quincy and seeing the quaint river town. It was even better than I had envisioned.

John Ray provided considerable information we hadn’t heard before. I think we could have talked into the night, but we had to finally call it quits so we could get back to the Alton area.

John recently released his new book, “Truth At Last,” which features his views on what happened during the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968.

We concluded the day with a trip to Ewing, where the Ray family lived for about a decade on a 56-acre farm. Ewing is a community of fewer than 500 residents. When we pulled into town, I almost had to get out of my car to get three dogs out of the road. Two beagles had decided they owned the road, I think. I guess it’s safe to say Ewing is a slow-paced town, especially when it appears dogs take command of the roads.

We visited cemeteries in the town where much of the Ray family had lived and were given quite a history lesson about the family and their past.

I am curious whether any of our readers have read John Ray’s new book and, if so, what kind of thoughts they have about it?

We are planning articles about the trip to Quincy for next Sunday’s and Monday’s newspapers, so I hope readers and viewers will check those out.

For those who want to read the new John Ray book, it’s available at Borders and by visiting his Web site, www.Johnthetruth.com.