Ice storm stops Observer press
Observer Staff Report
Power outages across Indiana forced The Observer to cancel publishing for the first time in 24 years.
The ice storm that struck Indiana Wednesday night knocked out power at The Papers Inc., the company that prints The Observer, early Thursday morning. The printing company did not expect power to return for many hours and sent its employees home. Without any other printing options, Observer editors were forced to cancel the print edition of Thursday's paper. Power was restored to The Papers shortly after 12:15 p.m. — too late for The Observer to be printed and driven to the campuses at a reasonable hour. Thursday's paper was available online, however, at observer.nd.edu.
The break in publishing is the first for The Observer since Jan. 27 and 30, 1978 when a snow storm closed Notre Dame and Saint Mary's from Thursday, Jan. 26 to Monday, Jan. 30, 1978. The Observer resumed publishing on Jan. 31, 1978 when school reopened.
Notre Dame and Saint Mary's have canceled classes only two other times in recent memory. On Jan. 28, 1977, the schools were closed due to cold temperatures and high winds which produced a wind chill factor of -70 degrees. The Observer still published despite the school closing.
On Dec. 12, 2000 final exams were canceled for one day because of a snow storm. Although The Observer had ceased normal publication for the exam period, a special-edition Fiesta Bowl Irish Insider was delivered to campus.
Although the roads were declared off-limits except for emergencies, Observer driver Jack Radican braved the elements and brought the issue to campus.
All News Stories for Friday, February 1, 2002
