Editorial: How do we collect the news to pass on to our readers?

We received a question on Monday from an enthusiastic reader: Where do you get your news?
We told him we get news from everywhere and welcomed his report.
Then we got to thinking: Exactly where do we get all our news? Of course, we attend governmental meetings to report to you what the people you elected are doing, what they are spending, and how it will affect you.
We attend public events and private events. We go to court because we rarely get informed in real time of the crimes committed in our community and in court we sometimes can get the details and can pass them on to residents.
People send us lots of news items by email. When college students register the Independent as their home-town paper, the college sends us news about our student.
Letters come by email, snail mail, and in person. Obituaries come by email and in person. Groups send us their pictures and stories that promote their organization.
And, we get information by phone calls or emails from our readers. Sometimes people come in our offices, shut the door, and whisper information in our ears. Sometimes, tips come by mail, typed up and sent without a signature or return address.
Where do we get our news? We are happy to report we get it everywhere.