Russ Flanagan

Flanagan joined The Express-Times in April 2003 as a police reporter. In October 2005, he was reassigned to the Northampton County Courthouse, where he covered trials, sentencing, hearings, civil litigation and the district attorney's office.[3]

Death

Co-workers at The Express-Times became concerned when Flanagan failed to appear to cover a murder trial on February 5, 2008. When he could not be reached all day, an editor drove to his Whitehall apartment and called the police, who found Flanagan dead in the apartment.^[3] After more than a month, an autopsy concluded the death was due to an unknown cardiac condition which led to a hardening of the arteries and a build-up of plaque that caused decreased blood flow.^[4]

Funeral services were held February 11 at the St. Clement Pope & Martyr Church in Rockaway Township, New Jersey.^[1] On February 15, about 250 family members, colleagues and friends gathered at the Northampton County Courthouse to remember Flanagan. Speakers at the service memorial service included his brother-in-law Richard Grayson, Northampton County Judge Paula Roscioli, Express-Times City Editor Eileen Holliday, and Express-Times Editor Joseph P. Owens. Owens announced that the newspaper's internship would be renamed the Russell J. Flanagan Memorial Scholarship.^[5]

In an Express-Times article about Flanagan, Owens recalled: "He was the kind of guy -- rock-solid reliable -- that if he was working a shift, you knew anything that came along would be handled. He was a veteran newsman who understood how to get the job done."^[3]

References