Train kills woman -- where's the follow-up?

Last night, two of the late-night local television news programs reported that there had been an unidentified woman killed in a train-auto collision near Rio, IL.

Reports indicated that she had stopped by the tracks, then rolled onto them just as the freight train approached.

That is all.

There has been no follow-up from either station or their website, no coverage in the local papers.

It seems to me, no matter where it happens, when somebody gets killed, the event should be noted by the local newspapers, at least. This especially applies to communities in which the changing of a local restaurant's menu meets the standard for publication as "news". We're not a densely populated region. We don't have drive-by shootings as a common occurrence (there was one in Galesburg, last year, or so they say, and that about covers that).

We do, however, have lots and lots of trains. I'm listening to the Amtrak whistle as I type (yes, I can tell by the time, tone, speed, and direction that it's not one of BNSF's monster freight trains a-comin' thru'. It's the California Zephyr, bound for Denver, and on to San Francisco. What a great ride! sigh. but I digress).

It might be useful if the local media reminded people that we actually have lots and lots of trains a-comin' thru' each day and night, especially since there's a whole lot of rural landscape around those tracks, and not so many gates as there are crossings. The news of a death by locomotive impact should be front page material, around here, both because it is newsworthy, and because people need to know the dangers in the region.

My respects to the family of the unnamed woman lost last evening.


Update: An anonymous commenter shows me I missed a major source: The Galesburg Register-Mail ran a front-page article the day after the accident. I don't know how I skipped them, since they're the one reliable outlet among all the news media in the region. My repectful apologies to their staff, and my thanks to the commenter.