perhaps not much different than how many emergency websites evolve: There was a need to provide a pod that delivered free COVID-19 public information to a local community.

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Late February 2020, Dr. Karen Lysik contacted my wife, Amy, to join her in gathering accurate, up-to-the-minute COVID-19 data on any-and-everything community members might need to navigate the coronavirus crisis and impacts. Civic-minded, Amy and I agreed to donate time researching and editing information. Initially, CityNewsAlerts.com was tapped to serve as that portal, but after one restless night worrying about perfect fit, Dr. Lysik purchased a domain personalized to the community we were gifting. 

 

With 5 original expert contributors (medical professionals, a professor, clinical psychologists, public school admin, management specialists) the donated hub flourished. Analytics tracking showed site visitors were not just engaged, low bounce rates showed they were also being reassured. With all of the misinformation circulating and so many cities taking the lazy way out only providing links to other government sites, our volunteer work resonated. I saw a larger opportunity to fill a public service void and pitched the idea to Dr. Lysik: For a fee, we could create Pods for other municipalities needing help. Dr. Lysik declined to go further than the volunteer effort; but immediately gifted to me - this domain *CityNewsAlerts.com*. For more than a month we continued to provide free COVID-19 information to the community originally chosen. Eventually the city we were donating coverage to offered to pay for our work. Again Dr. Lysik declined, bringing an end to our volunteer effort, but not before seeding in me a passion for the work.

 

It's not often one falls into a work that is special. It is my goal to resurrect the magic created under Dr. Lysik's leadership while working on the donated information website. My promise is to provide timely, reliable, accurate, unbiased coverage on any and all events and occurrences happening...my goal is to give you the 411 using a fresh, modern format; delivered with honesty and flair.

 

Thanks for your trust and your participation. I look forward to introducing you to the new team.  

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Dr. David