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DNC 2016: Hats off to transportation services and DNC volunteers

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Travel advisory: A section of SR 315 will be closed this weekend

<p>Make no mistake about it &#8212; Bill O&#8217;Boyle has, on more than one occasion, driven every one of us in the newsroom crazy.</p><p>But, dear Lord, there isn&#8217;t another person on the face of this planet we would want on our team this week. As our representative at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Bill has hit a grand slam home run every day since it began Monday.</p><p>Not only is Bill covering the Pennsylvania delegates, he&#8217;s also tracking down delegates from states that are home to other Civitas Media newspapers. He&#8217;s providing the information for our daily convention page, a page that runs in most Civitas newspapers across the country.</p><p>When the Republican National Convention was held in Cleveland, Civitas, which owns several newspapers in the state of Ohio, sent three journalists, from three different newspapers, to cover it. Since the Times Leader is the lone Civitas-owned newspaper in Pennsylvania, we were tabbed to provide coverage for the Democratic convention.</p><p>Bill was our choice &#8212; hands down. Not only would he be challenged to do the job, he would have to do the job done by three people the previous week. Every single person in our newsroom knew Bill could do just that.</p><p>He hasn&#8217;t let us &#8212; or our readers &#8212; down.</p><p>Don&#8217;t think for one minute, though, this has been a cake assignment. On the surface, it might seem cool to be a reporter with access to all aspects of the convention, rubbing elbows with senators, representatives, former presidents, future presidents and the like.</p><p>Let&#8217;s consider the reality of it.</p><p>Bill&#8217;s day Monday started at 4 a.m. when he left his home in Wyoming Valley to drive to Philadelphia. After checking into his hotel room, he attended a breakfast of the Pennsylvania delegates and gathered information for his first story.</p><p>Then the fun began.</p><p>He tried to log onto the laptop he had been provided for the convention. Going through all kinds of user names and passwords, nothing worked. Bill was frustrated. A call to the computer gurus in our newsroom resulted in his log-in information being reset, which frustrated him even more.</p><p>Several more attempts and, finally, he was in &#8212; and ready to write.</p><p>Bill then had to walk about nine city blocks in near-100 degree weather to get his press credentials. One of the few people who uses the elevator in our building to get to the second floor newsroom because his knees are not what they used to be, he made the walk and secured credentials. And then hiked back to the Wells Fargo Center.</p><p>Where he couldn&#8217;t get in.</p><p>Seems the credentials the security folks had given Bill did not allow him the access he needed.</p><p>Keep in mind that, at this point, Bill has been up since 4 a.m., has not eaten (I guess the delegate breakfast is for delegates and not media) and has only had a bottle of water to drink.</p><p>It&#8217;s hot. He&#8217;s tired. And miserable.</p><p>Undeterred, Bill sat down at a security desk and calmly announced to the young woman manning it he was not leaving until she found someone to help him. After arguing for some time and Bill remaining steadfast, a woman by the name of Lora Little came upon the scene. Lora Little is the big cheese of media credentials at this convention and, with some charming from Bill, I&#8217;m sure, got his credentials straightened out to the point where, according to Bill, &#8220;Now, I can go anywhere but Hillary Clinton&#8217;s locker room.&#8221;</p><p>That&#8217;s funny. Bill must have found it funny, too, because he told it to every one of four people he talked to in our newsroom Tuesday &#8212; serving as testament to my initial line about him driving us crazy.</p><p>I heard the frustration in Bill&#8217;s voice Monday afternoon. He was ready to come home. I wanted to put my arms around him and hug him.</p><p>He sounded so much better Tuesday morning. The laptop was working, his credentials had been straightened out and he now had a game plan. He then told me about how he went to the lobby of the hotel the night before and &#8220;just happened to meet&#8221; two women from Little Rock, Arkansas. Personal friends of Hillary Clinton, they had made the trip to support the Democratic nominee.</p><p>I knew better, though. This chance meeting didn&#8217;t &#8220;just happen.&#8221; This was Bill O&#8217;Boyle doing what he does best &#8212; getting the story, no matter how chaotic the circumstances.</p><p>And that, my friends, is why we at the Times Leader would have no one but Bill O&#8217;Boyle on our team in a situation like this.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Dotty Martin </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Dotty-Martin.New_-5.jpg</photo0><caption0>Dotty Martin </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Dotty Martin is the managing editor of the Times Leader Media Group. Reach her at dmartin@www.timesleader.com or by phone at 570-704-3982.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Beyond the Byline: Bill O’Boyle can play on our team any day of the week