Well,there is a small silver thread in this large cloud. In the local paper that was linked above, there is a link to the question
Soft time for a Hard Crime http://www.news-record.com/blog/2010...r_a_hard_crime The comments are almost all expressing outrage that such a light sentence could be handed out for such a heinous crime. Usually such comment threads don't show much sympathy for cyclists who are injured or killed by motorist negligence.