“That’s going on your permanent record,” was was the penultimate threat from teachers and principals. Any bad behavior that ended up on our “permanent record” was destined to haunt our lives. I heard that threat, more than once, but I never did see my permanent record. It may still be[Read More…]
Columns
It’s Sunshine Week—why that matters {Editor’s Column}
Government works best under the glare of public scrutiny. Absent such scrutiny, abuses occur.” ~Stephen Hawking A world-renowned physicist, Hawking passed away this week. His quote seems especially timely during Sunshine Week—when journalists remind everyone how vital it is that government activities be open and accessible to the public and[Read More…]
How to kill your newspaper {Editor’s Column}
Most everyone I talk to agrees with me (at least to my face) about the importance of having a local newspaper, yet we’re often guilty of systematically destroying the very thing we say has value to our towns. I’m not talking about the mainstream media entities recently threatened by a[Read More…]
Guarding the freedom of the press {Editor’s Column}
Our commissioners, after careful consideration, have suspended their support of Senate Bill 18-156, a vote for which I am grateful, and you should be, too. But why, you ask, does it matter? We’ve got horrific gun violence on one hand and sports teams going to regionals on the other. Where[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: A new blow to public information
Hot on the heels of last week’s kudos to the Town of Meeker for stepping up and restoring publication of an (albeit abbreviated version) of its monthly financial expenditures, this week government transparency has taken another jab in the political ring, followed by a friendly-fire uppercut from our own commissioners.[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Are we becoming knowledge resistant?
We have more access to information than any generation that has ever lived on this planet. Educating ourselves, even as adults, can now be done in the comfort of our own homes via online classes and programs. And yet, in the face of this wealth of potential knowledge that’s available[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: The winter doldrums, words we cannot print, filter bubbles and that conflict of interest thing
January is a tough season, hence the 12-page paper this week. From what I can surmise from my predecessors, this is par for the course. It’s the January doldrums. In sailing terms, the doldrums refer to a “calm period when the winds disappear altogether, trapping sailing ships for days or[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: What makes news, news?
I sometimes forget normal people don’t always understand how this crazy process works. When someone asks us for news coverage, my first question is usually, “is this newsworthy?” Newsworthy means true, interesting and relevant. Generally (particularly at this time of year when everyone is hibernating, on vacation or trying to[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Moderation is key, even at Christmas
Moderation has been the word of the week here at the office. Moderation in diet, moderation in speech, moderation in all things. Moderation is beneficial and excess is destructive. Even drinking too much water can kill you. This, of course, is the season of excessive excess: America’s hyper-commercialized “Christmas” celebration.[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Random thoughts this week
I should know better. Whenever I find myself falling into a cranky, judgmental, critical mindset about other people’s mistakes or bad attitudes I should know I am in imminent danger of making grave errors myself. Sometimes I catch myself in time, sometimes I don’t. The last two weeks were a[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Halloween costumes for grown-ups aren’t fair
As a small child my Halloween costume consisted of a pillowcase with two eyes rimmed in purple marker for several years. (I wasreally short.) In third grade I dressed up as “Bad Sandy” from the “Grease” movie. (My mother would probably say that was the beginning of the end.) As[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: A little cognitive dissonance goes a very long way
I hear a sound in the ether. It’s kind of a cross between fingernails scraped across a chalkboard and the “I’m trying to blow up my engine” wail of my neighbor’s pickup truck. What is it? I think it’s a pandemic of cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is defined as “the[Read More…]
