Kudos

To the Sunday News for publishing "Remembering Dick and Molly" as an "In My Opinion" column. Several persons contributed to the article but, for various reasons and by their choice, NewsLanc's president Robert Edwin Field was designated as author. "Remembering Dick and Molly" can be read at at this URL.

Really?

State Senator Gib Armstrong as reported in the Dec. 10 New Era: "In today's environment people think twice about getting into public office," he said. "There are a lot of people now, with the Internet and bloggers, who try to destroy anybody on any issue. They don't care. That's just the way it is. I can live through that and run a campaign, but it's not fair to my wife, and it's not fair to my family."

WATCHDOG: Apparently Armstrong does not like to have the public spotlight on his performance and much prefers to deal with the monopoly Lancaster Newspapers rather than receive suggestions and criticisms from concerned citizens. It's encouraging that NewsLanc and local blogs are having their desired effect.

Kudos

To the Sunday News for its Dec. 16th "'Lords' of the City" front page exposé and other related articles about the inability of the City of Lancaster to enforce Code Regulations for rental properties and the resulting dire consequences. NewsLanc will soon suggest corrective measures that work well elsewhere for similar municipalities.

Isn't Winning Enough?

The Sunday News well knows how unfairly County Commissioners Dick Shellenberger and Molly Henderson were treated by the monopoly newspapers on the issue of the convention center project and the grand jury report. Yet it persists in publishing "Days left in terms of County Commissioners Shellenberger and Henderson" in each edition. The Sunday News calls for the community to put division behind pertaining to the controversial project and yet continues, perhaps in projecting its own guilt onto the commissioners, to denigrate honorable public servants. This conduct is unworthy of the editor.

Bad Taste

On Nov. 30th, that bastion of public morality, the New Era, owned by the paragon of virtue the monopoly Lancaster Newspapers, Inc., (partner in the greatest rip off in Lancaster's history) published the photo of a sad looking woman accused of offering to perform an act of prostitution for an 'undercover' detective who patronized a massage parlor. At a time of frequent murders, bank robberies and when the elderly are swindled out of their life's savings, it is comforting to know that Rick Gray's "finest" are 'hot' on the trail of victimless vice.

Confused Priorities

The Nov. 25th Sunday News confined news of the arrest of Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion, opposition leader and the foremost critic of President Vladimir Putin, to a single column on page A8 while devoting its front page almost entirely to four human interest stories of little if any news value. Readers are not so provincial as to not be alarmed about Russia careening towards its former totalitarian status and thus posing a greater threat to the world and the USA than a dozen North Koreas or Irans.

Waste Collection

On Nov. 14th, the Intelligencer Journal reported that a spokesman for the City's Bureau of Solid Waste & Recycling told City Council that "waste" collection averaged 46% less per home in 2007 than in 2006. It also said a city councilman stated that it "seemed too good to be true" and praised the accomplishment.

WATCHDOG: The NewsLanc reporter also noted what was said, since the information appeared "too good to be true." In response to questions from NewsLanc the following day, Michael Devaney, the Bureau's manager, implied that the 46% difference largely reflects the introduction in 2007 of the separate collection of recyclables. However, he declined to provide a statement clarifying the matter.

NewsLanc's coverage had questioned the accuracy of so large a change. The Intell failed to question, let alone correct, the misinformation.