Coverage of courthouse
resulted in one hot story

In his 43 years at The Flint Journal, Lou Giampetroni was a sports writer and copy editor, news reporter, columnist and an assistant city and metro editor.

Lou Giampetroni Age: 68 Home: Flint Background: Flint Journal reporter and editor from 1954 to 1997. Worked two years in the sports department before moving into the newsroom. Covered suburban government and schools, then federal and county court beats. Later worked as an assistant metro editor and night editor. Education: Wayne University, (now Wayne State). Memorable stories: Giampetroni recalled watching a murder defendant scream at jurors who had just convicted him and two other people in a celebrated 1970s case, causing a courtroom ruckus. The man also began taunting him and the prosecutor before deputies, bailiffs and others managed to quell the disturbance, Giampetroni said. Giampetroni also recalls walking through downtown Rochester, wearing a blindfold and following a leader dog, for a story on the blind. He also spent a weekend as a state police trooper at the recruit school in East Lansing.

But he probably is best remembered for his time covering local courts.

In 1969, Giampetroni started a fire in the attic of the Genesee County Courthouse to demonstrate the potentially hazardous conditions there.

“I set this fire, put it out, and a couple of weeks later went back and found the debris still there,” he said. “I’ll never forget the headline on a Sunday morning. ‘Want to burn down the courthouse? It’s easy.’ ”

County officials initially denied there was debris in the attic but cleaned it a couple of days later. As luck would have it, a fire started while crews were cleaning the attic and had to be extinguished by the fire department, Giampetroni said.

County officials also took steps to make sure that only county workers had access to the attic.

Giampetroni, 68, started at The Journal in 1954. After two years in the sports department, he moved to the newsroom, covering suburban government and schools.

Giampetroni began covering U.S. District Court when it was established in Flint in 1961 and spent much of the next decade covering local courts.

A series by Giampetroni prompted the Legislature to close a loophole that prevented judges from imposing consecutive sentences in cases where suspects commit other crimes while free on bond.

Giampetroni also wrote a weekly column and eventually worked as an assistant city editor, assistant metro editor and night editor before retiring in 1997.

“All of the courthouse stuff was very fascinating.” he said. “There was so much tragedy involved, But amazingly, there was a lot of humor, too. Some of the strangest stuff would come out in court situations.”

Giampetroni said he’s not entirely comfortable with the way newspaper journalism has evolved.

“The advent of the National Enquirer in the ’70s and supermarket tabloid publications (marked a change),” he said. “We used to snicker at them. But more and more, current publications are doing the same type of thing. There’s s a lot more interest in scandal and strange behavior.”

Giampetroni remains an avid paddleball player and has won national titles in the sport.

He lives in Flint. He and his wife have three sons and a daughter.

— Ken Palmer