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Wednesday night I was putting the finishing touches on a story about the improved security situation in Iraq. The relative calm seems as if it could last, and I included a lot of anecdotal evidence to that effect, as well as several what-ifs and cautionary notes.

Good thing I did.

I was walking back to the bureau newsroom from my room 50 feet down the hall when I heard a CRUMP! From other places I've been, I knew it was neither a rocket nor a mortar, but I didn't know what it was. I'd heard automatic weapons fire a few nights earlier ("Celebration," explained our security guy, Paul, about the Iraqis'penchant for firing their weapons in the air to toast, say, a wedding or a birth--kinda like New Year's Eve in L.A.), but this was different.

This week and last I covered the death of Sgt. Frank Gasper, a Merced soldier killed in Iraq on May 25.

I take these stories seriously. Putting the news of a soldier's death on the front page is a way for the community to say to the family, We appreciate your sacrifice and grieve with you.

If the reporter does a good job, the family will cut that story out and keep it as a permanent reminder that when their son or husband or father was killed, his death didn't go unnoticed.

Public Works Director Paul Creighton confirmed that he was fired this morning by City Manager Richard Warne, who told him the city was going in a different direction.

The City Council met Thursday night to discuss the performance of one of the department heads, though the identity remained confidential.

Creighton, while understandably sounding disappointed at losing his job, said he enjoyed working for Livingston residents.