Compared with most of the world, Brevard County is a very safe place.
FLORIDA TODAY tries to reflect that by not overplaying routine crime stories.
So it's been a little odd lately to have a couple of high-profile crime cases featured prominently on the front page.
On Saturday morning, we had a front-page article on Paula Carroll, the woman who escaped from prison in 1975, then led a normal suburban family life in Melbourne until authorities arrested her and returned her to prison in 2010.
Reporter Andrew Knapp's article detailed her decades-long journey from prison to freedom to prison and to freedom again. Now, she's making fried chicken and snickerdoodles for friends and family.
We also produced a 30-minute documentary for WBCC on this subject. It premiered Sunday and will be repeated several times this week.
In some ways, this was a feel-good story.
Despite its crime origins, it really was a compelling story about someone headed down the wrong path finding their way into a family environment and becoming a productive member of society. Her obligations to the justice system certainly complicated that but only added to the fascinating features of the story.
Carroll -- known to her friends and neighbors as Sharon Brown -- appears to have learned her life's lessons well.
The other crime story that made page one during the weekend -- and several other times during the past month -- was the Casey Anthony trial in Orlando.
I can't recall any criminal case in Central Florida gathering as much media attention as this one -- and not just recently. It's been over the top for three years. Several people I know have been seduced into following every minute of the sordid and mostly boring trial proceedings. Depending on your perspective, it is either an incredible soap opera or the best, unscripted reality television show.
At its core, the Anthony case is just a terrible crime yarn. But there are a lot of those. I still can't quite identify why this one has captured the public's attention to the level it has. Obviously, the constant hammering of it by the Orlando television stations has helped. But were they hyping the news or just responding to a public who wanted it?
I guess both.
The case doesn't have the nuances or local connections normally required to make our front page. But I'm not a news snob. Some segments of our community are hyper interested in it, so we've tried to target it with more prominent attention on certain days.
But I make no secret of this: I'll be glad when it's over.
Contact Stover at 321-242-3607 or bstover@floridatoday.com.
