INTELLIGENCER JOURNAL

In "Library says no to quick fixes", the Intell reports: "The Board of Trustees of the Lancaster Public Library, by a 6-to -2 vote Tuesday, opted to forgo a quick renovation of the aging facility by the end of 2009, hoping to undertake a more comprehensive upgrade at some future date."

WATCHDOG: The report was a competent distillation of an hour long drama. The "quick renovation" of the library would have been, by and large, the same as planned had the 18,000 square foot addition been simultaneously constructed. The addition, which Karen Haley Field was proposing as a second stage to be funded later, would enable library functions to be spread out and additional features provided. Editor's note: Karen Haley Field is the wife of NewsLanc's publisher Robert Edwin Field.

CHARLESTON [WV] GAZETTE

10/19/08: "More W.Va. voters say machines are switching votes. WINFIELD, W.Va. -- Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week. This is the second West Virginia county where voters have reported this problem. Last week, three voters in Jackson County told The Charleston Gazette their electronic vote for 'Barack Obama' kept flipping to 'John McCain'. http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=303

We can expect to read a slew of such reports on and after national election day.

Fortunately, the Lancaster County Commissioners took heed of the evidence and reversed their decision to purchase additional electronic voting machines that had no verifiable paper trails.

This isn't a Republican or a Democrat thing. This is about the integrity of the election system!

INTELLIGENCER JOURNAL

In endorsing John Morganelli for Attorney General, the Intell states: "Morganelli suggested earlier this year that [Attorney General Tom] Corbett 'botched' the '[Bonusgate] investigation ....and that the probe is 'politically tainted' as a result."

WATCHDOG: Since Corbett recently investigated and censured the illegal activities of four Intelligencer Journal reporters for unlawful access to a state confidential web site and Editor Ray Shaw had reportedly approved the improper activities of the reporters, NewsLanc suggests that the Intell endorsement is itself "tainted." Given the circumstance, the editors should have refrained from commenting on the race.

SUNDAY NEWS

According to "Sunday's Guest" Jacques Gibble in a column headed "Effort is key to achievement": "This belief, that only some students have the intelligence to achieve academically, has operated in our schools for a long time. It colors teacher (and parent) expectations for their charges and anticipates that only the 'smart' ones will do well." [On the contrary] "When teachers expect students to do well..., they do; if they expect students to do poorly,..students will meet that expectation as well."

WATCHDOG: No truer words were ever written about educating children, and even adults. Instead of devoting time and effort to helping youngsters over come difficulties, parents and teachers may just assume they aren't good at the subject.

Often just a little bit of extra help in school, from family, or by a tutor, will enable a student to catch up to and often to surpass classmates. As studies show, the academic achievement of children often reflect the expectations of parents and teachers.

LANCASTER POST

In its Oct. 17 cover story "Gib Bets On Death, the Post looks at the retiring Senator's many business ventures", the Post states: ["Senator Gib Armstrong's] Historic Hamilton Suites that he bought in 2002 is currently for sale. The 58 units are available for a cool $3.657 million dollars. In the documents showing potential investors the costs and income, it reveals that Armstrong, who get 40% of profits, his monthly cash flow for this business is $34,840per month!"

WATCHDOG: NewsLanc questioned the Post about their calculations and its news editor forwarded the sales listing for the Hamilton Suites. The listing indicates $418,080 in annual revenue, $83,225 in expenses, with a profit of $334,855 or $27,904 monthly. If Armstrong has a 40% interest as the Post reports, his monthly earnings would amount to $11,162, not the erroneously reported $34,840 per month.

LANCASTER POST

In its Oct. 10th lead article "Railroaded: Is trainyard relocation shutting out the public?", the Post asks "Shouldn't the [Public Involvement Plan] -- on how the property is to be cleaned up - be completed, so that the public can review the plans? Or, better, shouldn't the public's input be considered before the plan is created, and then presented to the public as a 'draft,' pending input from the public after review of the plan?"

It also asks "Just how 'public' was this [June 17] 'public meeting'" since F&M banned the Post personnel from "F&M soil", "subject to arrest."

WATCHDOG: There are also other important observations. The article may be the best yet by the Post. It can be viewed at www.LancasterPost.com.

INTELLIGENCER JOURNAL

An Oct. 11 article about Warwick High School football team's 21 -19 victory over McCaskey opens "You guys," Bob Locker began, his voice a mix of pleasure and exasperation as he addressed the post-game huddle, "have a funny way."

WATCHDOG: The Intell also has a "funny way" of reporting sports because the entire article, 2/3rd of a column, is devoted to Warwick and says nothing about the McCaskey team. The game wasn't decided until the last minute and McCaskey players must have had something to do with that! See for yourself at http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/228606

NEW ERA

On October 9, four out of the ten lead New Era articles as listed at LancasterOnLine.com dealt with sex offenses.

WATCHDOG: Thirty days before local and national elections and during the worse financial crisis since the Great Depression, we would think that New Era editors would have their reporters covering more news worthy articles. As we have observed in the past, apparently Editor Ernie Schreiber thinks sex is what turns his readers on.

INTELLIGENCER JOURNAL

An Oct. 8th article headed "Rail-yard foes focus on dump" sets forth the most important concerns expressed by many School Lane Hills residents. (See NewsLanc's report here)


WATCHDOG: We felt Michael Yoder's report was an unusually accurate, balanced and substantive job of reporting, especially given deadline constraints.

LANCASTERONLINE.COM

A blog posting entitled "From the annals-of-journalism dept." attempts to refute NewsLanc criticism of "McCaskey's Challenge" that appeared in the Sunday News of Sept. 21.

"So to summarize, the only real problems with this investigation are, 1. It wasn't an investigation; 2. It didn't come close to revealing anything worth knowing about McCaskey sports or any other subject in the universe; and, 3. I take that back; it may have (unintentionally) revealed a few things about newslanc.com."

WATCHDOG: The purpose of the NewsLanc article was to point out that McCaskey was not doomed to fail because its students are from inner city households, which was an unfortunate implication of an otherwise good report. To do so, we supplied the 2007 records of inner city schools in Reading, York, Harrisburg and Coatesville.

The snide critique actually makes our point.

The LancasterOnLine.com article can be read here.

INTELLIGENCER JOURNAL

In Jeff Hawkes' column of Oct 3 entitled "Juvenile lifers: Redemption and release?" he poses the question of whether a thirteen year old who committed a senseless murder should be kept in prison for the rest of his without the possibility of parole. He presents evidence how the brain continues to develop during teenage years and adds to a person's self control.

WATCHDOG: Hawkes is at his best when he serves as the conscience of society. He brings to our attention issues that require our attention and provides information that causes us to reflect and possibly to take corrective action. The article is available at http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/228205

Intelligencer Journal

A viewer brought to our attention a Jeff Hawkes column in which he stated: "If we could put aside labels and see all of us as Americans, some with Latin-American roots, we'd be more likely to take ownership of the challenges presented in a new report titled 'Latinos in Lancaster County: Voices, Perspectives, Myths and Realities.'"


WATCHDOG: Hawkes' column can be read at http://www.alegreresearch.com/pdf/Editorial.pdf . The report can be found and downloaded at www.lancastercountywib.com . Check the upper, left hand column.