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Articles Tagged: Editorially Speaking
Invasion of Gil snatchers?
Time for another installment of comments from readers. You really can't make up this stuff.

Where's Gil?
An e-mail from a reader in New Holland on Gil Smart's recent column on personal responsibility:

"What did you do with Gil Smar......
It's really Plain to see
Notes, quotes and anecdotes: • After reading about Lancaster General Hospital refusing to further cut hospital bills for the Plain (who don't carry health insurance), a reader wrote to tell us about the recipe book she had just received from the LGH Wellness Center. On the cover i......
Making his best pitches
Twenty years after he made his pitching debut in the Solanco Church League, Dave Stokes will pitch at Clipper Magazine Stadium Thursday night. His name won't ring many bells with fans, because the 38-year-old isn't a baseball pitcher — he pitches fast-pitch softball and does it qu......
Home rule or GOP rule?
For nine Sundays (with one more to go), we have devoted a great deal of time and space to explaining the home-rule charter, article by article. Formulated by the Government Study Commission, this is an important document. If voters approve it in November, it will mark the first major changes in......
Take note of editor's notes
It has been our policy — one handed down by past Sunday News editors — to rarely attach an editor's note to a letter to the editor. An editor's note makes it look as if the editor has to get in the last word. I don't get the last word at home, so why should I have i......
Chapter and verse
For those of us who work in newspapers, our bible (the one with the small "b" ) is the AP Stylebook. I await the book, updated each year at this time by The Associated Press, as eagerly as I used to wait for Christmas catalogs as a child. The stylebook, in print and online, is a ......
Keeping my head down
Time for another installment of those ever-popular comments from readers. The following are taken from e-mails and one conversation. You can't make up this kind of stuff.

Re cycling laws
From an e-mail in which the writer got really revved up over last Sunday'......
She'll tell your mother
Karen Dinkel was weary of chasing the young woman who had racked up more than 50 parking tickets. The 22-year-old, facing an arrest warrant, said she would take care of things, but then made herself scarce. The city's warrant coordinator turned to a source she doesn't like to use: ......
Take two, hit to right
Notes, quotes and an impression: Most of us saw our major-league sports dreams end in the midget leagues, but nearly everyone thinks they know sports better than the people who report it. After I became sports editor of the Intelligencer Journal in 1977, I heard a speaker at a seminar put ......
His long, hard road
At 50, Rick Bowman is quick to tell you that he's caused some of his own problems. But trouble has sometimes literally come down the road and shown up at his door. The tall, bearded Bowman lives and works at the bottom of the steep hill that runs up to Marticville. He's a comm......
Now, let's go to the video
The article on last Sunday's front page showed how the city is trying to speed up the mind-numbing process of getting condemned houses on the market. It also referred readers to LancasterOnline.com for a graphic that mapped all 100 condemned properties. Simply click on a property and inform......
Other driver really is idiot
Notes, quotes, anecdotes and a question: What state would you guess has the least knowledgeable drivers? According to GMAC Insurance's annual survey, New Jersey drivers know the least about driving laws, scoring 69.9 percent (70 is passing). The smartest drivers live in Kansas and aver......
Lancaster as 'magic town'
In the 1947 movie "Magic Town," Jimmy Stewart plays a pollster who discovers a small town that reflects American opinions dead-on. The national media must also see something magical in Lancaster. Before the primary, you could go to Central Market to buy produce and give your opin......
It's Wayne's new world
If the price of gasoline is hurting us, we have strange ways of showing it. No, I'm not going to preach about driving less, pedaling a bicycle to work, car-pooling or giving up your SUV. My wife clings to the wheel of her SUV like the NRA sticks to its guns. We live where four-wheel-dr......
Newspaper is an education
It's another round of letters, e-mails, online posts and calls from readers. You can't make up this kind of stuff: • From an e-mail: "On the front page [May 4], we have [a headline] "Uneasy lies head of Disney princess." What the heck does that even mean? ... No......
Pedestrians, a bad sign
Questions asked, answers questioned: • Are you as happy as I am that the Pennsylvania primary is over? • Now that the Lancaster Post is publishing, will our critics stop calling us the "monopoly newspapers"? (Answer: Not likely.) • Does it make you as nervous ......
Crosswalk crossfire
If a frown could wound bad drivers, oh my. Yes, you, the woman in the SUV, talking on the cell phone, who ignored the children trying to cross the street. And you, the man behind the wheel of a pickup truck, who drives like it's your first time in the city, hanging a left and forcing p......
Promoting ourselves
We often do a poor job of telling you what's in this newspaper or on LancasterOnline. Did you know that "Jumble," which is in the Intelligencer Journal six days a week, was added to the Sunday News a couple of months ago? One reader, who called to ask if we would consider pri......
Doctor makes an e-mail call
The readers (bless you) always write. You can't make up this kind of stuff: • An e-mail reply to my comment last Sunday on Dr. Laura Schlessinger being wifty when she said on the "Today" show that wives bear some responsibility for wandering husbands: "Dear Mr. Adam......
Questions, but few answers
Things to ponder: •If the city goes to angled parking on some streets, will residents need to put out more stuff to hold their spaces after snowstorms? •Why do we say and write "hundreds braved the elements" when we're talking about a little rain or cold? When did s......
Letter from the editor
It has been a while since we've talked about letters to the editor. But it's time for another revival service. Writers have a history of backsliding when it comes to length of their letters. After I set a 200-word limit several months ago, most of you ignored me as if I were an Old......
Dear ol' dads need a break
Another round of letters, e-mails and online postings from readers. You can't make up this kind of stuff. • From a snail mail: "I think everyone over 60 should not pay school tax unless they have a child in public school." I disagree. As a 57-year-old with a 12-year......
Wrestling a deadline
One of the aims of this column has been to give readers insight into how a newspaper is put together. The process is not an exact science, and there are times it becomes "all the news that fits," a takeoff on the N.Y. Times motto, or "all the news that we're able to fit in by......
My license to kill usage
Following are comments from readers. You can't make up this kind of stuff. • From a reader's e-mail on my crusade to strike the meaningless term "valid license" from the lexicon: "If you forgot to renew your driver's license ... it changes from a 'valid&......
Dogged quest for answers
Things that make me wonder: • Why do coaches who break the rules and corporate execs who run businesses into the ground get huge buyouts? • Why can the dog go back to sleep after she gets me up at 4 a.m to go out, but I can't? • Besides my daughter, who buys that st......
An online snow job
From a post on LancasterOnline.com's TalkBack to our story last Sunday on the county commissioners deciding to "do over" a meeting:  
Just so I understand the LNP position correctly: A violation by Dic......
I need some comic relief
Following is another installment of comments from readers. You can't make up this kind of stuff.

Good grief!
• From an e-mail: "Why bring back 'Hagar [the Horrible]'? It is such a boring comic. I swear it repeats itself on an eight-week cyc......
Music to ears and the eyes
Never took a music lesson until the other day, when I got one from two experts. Down on the first block of North Prince Street, the interior of the $21-million-plus Pennsylvania Academy of Music is shaping up. It's a dream come true for Michael Jamanis and Frances Veri, the husband-and......
You can call off the siege
Notes, quotes and my declaration of surrender: The cartoon "Hagar the Horrible" will return in a couple of weeks. Gone will be "Ollie & Quentin," which never hit its stride on Sundays. Also, its artwork was just too small. (Even in the the old comic-page size, the c......
The neckties that bind
Questions answered, answers questioned: • Men's neckties grow wider or narrower, but how come old ties in your closet never make it back into style? • Why is it that children can't wait to get out of school, but then spend after-school hours playing school? • Wh......
Not down for the count
Anytime I believe I'm doing something right, readers set me straight. You can't make up this kind of stuff.

The countdown
From an e-mail: "I noticed that today's [Jan. 6] Sunday News contained the last of your ... countdowns on the terms of our ......
I hope you're still smiling
We have added two comic strips today — "Family Tree," by Signe Wilkinson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for the Philadelphia Daily News, and "Quentin and Ollie" by Piers Baker. Both strips debuted nationally last Monday. "Family Tree" &md......
Some things to ponder
Things that cause me to wonder: • When did auto makers start offering turn signals as options? • How did Adam Sandler get to be a movie star? • Has Bill O'Reilly ever had any doubts? About anything? • Why are liberals so forgiving of liberals, but not con......
Certainly is Plain to see
A compilation of reader comments taken from letters, phone calls, e-mails and TalkBack. You can't make up this kind of stuff. • From an e-mail to a Sunday News columnist: "Dear Godless Flaming Liberal Education Establishment Apologist." Is it safe to assume you......
Now pitching ... the devil
Late in the 2006 season, there was excitement as the Phillies' Ryan Howard made a run at 60 home runs. Why, since 60 was the old record set by Babe Ruth in 1927, broken by Roger Maris with 61 in 1961, obliterated by Mark McGwire in 1998 with 70, and toppled by Barry Bonds in 2001 with 73?...
Get caught in our Web
Last Sunday, readers of the Sunday News picked up their papers to learn the surprising news that Sen. Gib Armstrong would not be running for a sixth term in the state Senate. Except for those in the senator's family and inner circle, that was breaking news. But there was another group ......
Forecasts are real snow jobs
Notes, quotes and a sharing of my wisdom that increases as my hair turns whiter: (Not buying that are you?) • Remember when meetings were canceled because of the weather? Now, meetings are canceled because of the forecast. I'll bet most churches had fewer congregants las......
Counting them out
More comments from readers, who don't have to be coaxed out of their shells. You can't make up this kind of stuff. From an e-mail: "Would you please please, please, change the commissioner countdown to read: 'XXX days left in the term of President George Bush and......
What were we thinking?
Whenever I walk through the second block of North Queen Street, I think of how the block looked before it was demolished in the 1960s, allowed to sit vacant for years, and then filled with an architectural monstrosity, and I wonder: What were we thinking? I wonder that about a lot of thing......
Crowned by the readers
Recent comments from readers, taken from e-mails, letters, calls and "Talkback," LancasterOnline.com's home for people who make me wonder if there's anyone "home." You can't make up this kind of stuff....
A choirboy? Not ‘Gary’
How's it going, "Gary Brown"? Since I wrote about you Sept. 30, I've heard from many people who met you and, from the goodness of their hearts, gave you money. I doubt that's your real name, just as you always give a different street where you live. And different jobs......
A dread letter day
I knew when I recently gave a refresher course on our letters-to-the-editor policy that all of you would take it in stride and work to keep letters at 200 words or below. Silly me. From one reader (you can't make up this kind of stuff):

"More and more it has become ......
Autumn gets my vote
Notes, quotes, and is there a better season than fall? Spring barely exists here before giving way to summers that are too humid. Winter is too damp. Now, if only a nice wind would come up and blow our leaves into the Browns' yard ...

Parting shots
Thi......
Letter from the editor
The writer of a letter to the editor wasn't happy. His letter had been shortened. After editing, it might have been one-third the length it had been when he mailed it. But in taking out the redundancies, the point of the letter was still clearly conveyed. Also gone was a lot of th......
Spelling it all out
I don't see why that had to be spelled out." The caller was African-American, and she was upset by the use of the "N-word" in a Sunday News article last week. The word jumped out at readers in a quote from a black student, who said that a white student at Warwick High Sc......
A widow's might
I've got to tell you, friend, you are smooth. A couple of weeks ago, you walked into a Sunday-school class with your hard-luck story. Casually but neatly dressed, you stayed for the lesson. You told one person you lived on Bay Street. You told another you lived on James. Your......
What's fit for Page One?
What has happened to the news in the Sunday News? More to the point, where has it gone? ... There was ... [Page One, July 1] a hint there might be news on Page A3. Really disappointing.

E-mail from a reader
Whenever I allow myself to think for a mo......
Suffering in September
Notes, quotes and a question about which is worse: To have your favorite major-league baseball team out of contention in September, or to have your team in contention the last month of the season? I'm not sure. With all of their injuries and a pitching staff that makes the one fro......
No trees fell for this column
Following are comments from readers, gleaned from phone calls, e-mails and letters. Trust me, you can't make up this kind of stuff.

Q. As I once again throw your TV Week into the recycle bin, I am compelled to write you and let you know that you should not bother to cut down a......
I can still spell 'Paviglianiti'
The opening of school always reminds me of the despair that my fifth-grade classmates and I felt as we rode the bus that first day of school in September 1960. A third-grader cackled that nothing could save us. We were due, we thought, to get the meanest ol' teacher in Pequea Elementary....
Bringing home the Bacon
Years ago I observed a phenomenon: Very little happens in this world without the involvement of someone from Lancaster County, or someone who has a connection to Lancaster County. It's like the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, in which you try to connect the actor to any other actor with just si......
Stop presses! Page One ad!
There's something new on today's Page One, something that you've never seen, unless you've been around these parts a very long time. That something is an advertisement. Yes, across the bottom of the page and 1 inch deep is an advertisement. If you read other area newspapers or nationa......
36 divided by many things
Just how divided are we? I got a quick answer during the Weber v. Lancaster Newspapers Inc. et al defamation trial in late July. That answer: Very, especially when it comes to picking a local jury. As I wrote here last Sunday, a jury decided that case in our favor. But before the......
The jury is no longer out on this one
I've been told you never know what a jury is going to do when it starts deliberating behind closed doors. I thought of that Tuesday when I watched nine women and three men leave Courtroom 8 after Judge Paul K. Allison instructed the jurors on the law and tasked them with finding a verdict....
It's a funny business
You might think newspaper editors spend all their time dealing with serious subjects and weighty issues. Issues like freedom of speech, the Sunshine Law. Subjects like formulating an editorial policy or keeping an eye on the county commissioners. Or girding for reader reaction to the ne......
At a loss for Phils
Notes, quotes, and I was surprised when stories started to appear about the Phillies approaching, and then reaching, their 10,000th loss since the team was founded in 1883. I thought I had watched or listened to that many losses since 1955. Actually, the Phillies have won more games than t......
Scratching his head
Notes, quotes and I'm never surprised by things that happen in the newspaper business. I'm just left scratching my head every now and then.

Return to sender
We verify letters to the editor by checking the phone numbers and addresses submitted with letters and......
We've got you covered
Whenever I get invited to speak to a group, the question du jour is: "What do you see as the future of newspapers?" "I don't know," I answer. "And if I did know, I wouldn't be here today." You see, I tell them, if I knew that answer, I would b......
They remember the way it was
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the things I miss as Lancaster County has changed. I invited readers to tell me what they miss. Tom Lefever, of Lancaster, wrote: "I used to spend many evenings on my deck listening to the Phils and eating ice cream (or having a few summer cocktails......
Where there's smoke ... news
A fire chief called Monday. I knew at least one would. The news has not been good for chiefs: a young firefighter arrested for starting a fire in an Amish school; a rescue attempt of a cat in a tree gone wrong (the cat died); and neighbors unhappy with a fire station they say has become a rowdy......
The father of all days
A reader (see "Letters to the Editor") questions why we don't put out a special Father's Day section, as we do for Mom's Day and Grandparents' Day. Those large sections are produced by our retail-advertising department. Because the Mom's Day section is so large and......
Among the missing
People, places and old ways I really miss: • The Horseshoe Drive-in and the owners, Bill and Arlene. I saw Arlene at a reunion of patrons and employees of the Horseshoe Grill (the drive-in's predecessor) a few years ago; she hadn't changed. • Driving for pleasure. It'......
End is not near enough
Notes, quotes and an observation: Whoever said time flies wasn't watching the countdown (Page P2) for the number of days left in the terms of county Commissioners Molly Henderson and Dick Shellenberger. It's at 215 days and dragging.

Funny business
......
Open season on columnist
There are debates that I find to be excruciatingly unending. Abortion, evolution versus creationism, gun control, the designated hitter. To that list, I add deer hunting in Pennsylvania. I've been hearing from hunters who were upset by a May 13 column by John McGonigle, our outdoo......
S-o-o-o-o close, yet s-o-o-o far
Notes, quotes and a question: Would you rather lose an election big, like Heidi Wheaton Tuesday, or lose a squeaker, like Charlie Smithgall, in their unendorsed runs for county commissioner in the Republican primary? Wheaton was blown out by more than 8,000 votes; Smithgall, by just 460. A......
His column fills the Bill
This is getting to be a habit. The last two times "Sunday's Guest" columnist Bill Adams used his column to endorse candidates just before an election, I had to write columns about his columns. Then last Sunday, Mr. Adams, a stalwart Republican, took issue with Heidi Wheaton&#......
Publishing our mistakes
My personal philosophy: It's not the peaks and valleys in life, it's the dips. Last Sunday, we had dips.

Alice still lives there
Alice Hess, a Lancaster Newspapers colleague who works in the classified advertising department, wrote: "As a ......
I'd cancel your paper, but ...
Notes, quotes and comments (you can't make this stuff up) from readers:
Let us pray
"Certainly Mr. [Gil] Smart is free to express his opinions. But I don't have to read his column, and I don't anymore. "However, just between you and me, I do ......
Columnist is not conflicted
Tuesday, Lancaster City Council will consider the appointment of Arthur E. Morris to the Lancaster County Convention Center Authority board. If approved (and only a complete breakdown of our social order would stop it), he will attend his first board meeting Thursday night. We were happy t......
Too much left unsaid
William R. Schultz spends the remaining days of his 84th year at Hospice of Lancaster County. There is some irony to that. In the late 1970s, as editor of the Intelligencer Journal, he campaigned to help establish a hospice program, a place where the sick could spend their last days in a h......
Beware the first of April
It was April 1, 1990, that we broke the startling story. A hungry giant eagle, up from the headwaters of the Amazon, was flying our skies, looking to lunch on small dogs. At least one unlucky dog, Pookie, being walked by her mistress in School Lane Hills, was lost when the eagle swooped in......
You're entitled to more of their opinions
Notes, anecdotes and the quote of the month: "I'll call this the last snowfall." — Millersville University meteorologist Eric Horst, March 8, 2007, in the Intelligencer Journal. I hope Eric was shoveling or blowing snow with the rest of us March 16.
...
The Mother of all editions
Just as there is a separation of church and state in our government (please, no letters), there is a separation of the news side from the advertising side in our newspapers. I have nothing to do with advertising, just as the director of retail advertising at Lancaster Newspapers, John Derr, ......
Too early to crow
Following are questions and comments I've gotten in letters, e-mails, postcards and phone calls. The questions and comments are in bold; my remarks are in light-faced type. Cross my heart: You can't make up stuff like this.

You're going to be eating a lot of cr......
No stealth about it
The unhappy reader wrote:
"As an employee of the Sunday News, [Gil Smart's] opinions can be interpreted as representing those of the newspaper's management in the same manner as if he were writing a weekly editorial. Since Mr. Smart is not a syndicated columnist to which you......
Eighth-graders shall lead 'em
A few times a year, I get a flurry of letters to the editor written by students who have been given that assignment by their teachers. What I like about young writers is that they get right to the point (maybe because they want to get it over with). We've printed a letter today from......
Another time, another war
In the movies, they call it a back story — a narrative of what's behind a character's actions. There are a lot of back stories in newspapers, some obvious, some not so obvious. We published a letter to the editor in September 2001, not long after the 9/11 attacks, about Ge......
Making our own headlines
As you can imagine, the talk of the town, and this building, last week was the county coroner-Intelligencer Journal grand jury case. The coroner, Dr. G. Gary Kirchner, wound up in handcuffs, charged with unlawful use of a computer and criminal conspiracy, for giving five Intell reporters acc......
Coaxing a big smile
Keep those cards, letters, e-mails and phone calls coming, folks. The following are questions and comments (you can't make up stuff like this) from readers:Q. Your picture is different. You're smiling. Why the change?
A. Dick Shellenberger ann......
Seeing you in the funny papers
Last October we ran a poll asking you to rank the Sunday comics. More than 2,000 of you replied, half online, the other half on paper. It took us a while to input all those paper ballots, while other things kept coming up. But now we have the results from our number-cruncher extraordinaire, ......
So, where's the logic?
It is passed along, repeated. Soon, because it’s been heard, posted or read so often, it comes to be accepted as true.


One of those statements, coming in the aftermath of the grand jury investigation of the sale of Conestoga View, goes like this:


“Because the Sunday News is own...
Sunshine superman
If you decide to continue in office, I offer my services to help both of you more fully understand the state’s Sunshine Act.


Oh, that’s right. I’ve been trying to do that for the commissioners, including outgoing Commissioner Pete Shaub, for more than a year in this column.


Com...
‘Ex’ marks the sport
Moving day


We have moved a few things around in today’s paper. The police log, the weekly lottery listings and corrections are now on Page A2.


The national and world briefs have moved farther into the first section.


Pennsylvania Briefs returns to Page B5.
...
Daddy’s little tax deduction
Nothing would ever be the same again.


About six hours later, at 9:51 p.m., Abigail Helen Adams arrived. The nurses at Lancaster General Hospital were hoping she would be the New Year’s baby; I got my wish, a tax deduction.


She came into the world looking like all the other bab...
Oh, we get questions



Can’t cry uncle


Q. Is Bill Adams a relative? I don’t know how else he could have gotten the job of writing a column.


A. No, we’re not related. But if the former head of Armstrong World Industries wants to tell people we’re related, that’s OK.


Q. You actua...
Taxing times in eternity
No rest in peace




A note to the agency that is collecting from people who are delinquent on the city’s per-capita tax:


Elwood Stevens is not a deadbeat.


He is dead.


Mr. Stevens died 16 years ago.


His widow, Barbara, who is taking your not...
Bustin’ our buttons today
It’s probably also the heaviest.


It might have awakened you when it landed — THUMP! — on your doorstep this morning. That’s if you get home delivery, as an astounding 80 percent of our readers do. The average figure for Sunday papers is 70 percent.


I’m sure many carriers weren’...
Pay them to go away



It’s a common move in the corporate and sports worlds to pay an officer or player to just go away. Why shouldn’t it work in government?


I don’t think the Republican commissioner has a snowball’s chance in July of winning a second term, so why put us through these next 400-plus...
You know you’re an old-timer ...
Actually, it was Patty’s second retirement. She retired in 1996 but continued to work part-time while also working in the county sheriff’s office.


Her time here was spent working nights in what we used to call the composing room, back in the good ol’ days when molten lead was turned into ...
Readers seek the later word
One of the letters, from Rod Geib, who lives in Manheim, asked why we printed an “outright endorsement of incumbent Rick Santorum’’ by “Sunday’s Guest” columnist Bill Adams.


He mentions the editor’s note about giving candidates and readers a “cooling-down’’ day.


Mr. Geib wrote:...
No escape from county
Ten-year-old daughter Abigail asked me a question the other day, which I thought I was too busy to answer. “It’s a long story,’’ I said.


“I have the time,’’ she told me.


And, as I found, so did I.


Now, the rest of the column. For those who tell me they only read t......
Door is open to prodigals
Perhaps Three Mile Island in 1979 comes closest.


What has set this story apart, after the unrelenting horror, is the forgiveness exhibited by the Amish of the killer of the five children, and of his family.


It has also brought a question: If the Amish are such a forgiving peopl...
Silly season is upon us
Unlike baseball, football and basketball, this sports season actually comes twice a year, around May and then November.


It’s the campaign season. It’s the season when normally logical people turn downright silly.


It’s the season when common sense takes a long, long holiday. ......
In awe of the Amish
Same religion, different pews.


Maybe the next time we’re held up by a horse and buggy, we might slow down and think about the people inside.


The story of the tragedy in the schoolhouse was a difficult one to report, because of the unfathomable violence against children, and for...
You’re kidding ... aren’t you?
I’ve felt that numbering their days on our editorial page said enough and took up less space.


But then something comes along that can’t be ignored.


Commissioner Dick Shellenberger, who has said he hasn’t decided on whether to run for another term, has been out shopping for supp...
She has luck of the Irish
Judy, shown below, lives on Misty Drive. She gets four tickets and a parking pass to the Oct. 14 Michigan-Penn State game at Beaver Stadium.


Eleven people had picked Notre Dame to win and also picked 58 points. Judy’s name was drawn first.


She was surprised when she got the cal...
A good day for big hug
Our retail advertising department has produced its first Grandparents Day section. It puts local grandparents on display and allows them to show off, without stopping you on the street, pictures of the people they adore and who adore them — their grandchildren.


Grandparents Day is a genui...
Breaking the bank
I thought she had lost her mind.


I remembered that Monday morning at the church, while searching for pants, size 8 boys husky, to fill an order.


From newspaper articles, I knew the need was great.

Hundreds of children in the district are considered “homeless’’ because t...
Just a little off the sides
The Sunday News (the Intelligencer Journal and the Lancaster New Era, too) has reduced the printed part of its pages by three-eighths of an inch in width.


Aug. 27, the change will become more noticeable as the margin around the pages is trimmed by about half an inch.


This is a ...
These changes aren’t remote
“Never change the TV book.’’


Well, Clyde, er, Dave, we took your advice.


For nine months.


Next week, there will be some changes in TV Week.


As I wrote when we trimmed the stock market listings, the Sunday News, and other newspapers, look for ways not just ...
This Cup is only half full
Soccer is no closer to joining the professional (or collegiate) ranks of football, baseball, basketball or even ice hockey than it was four years ago.


Millions of children kicking around balls (driven literally and figuratively by those famous soccer moms) have not translated into TV rati...
Confession of a good man
As I read the article, I pictured the elderly minister.


I was 19 or 20, a reporter with the Intelligencer Journal. I had the job of interviewing an older person every week for the “Senior Citizens’’ column.


It wasn’t a plum assignment, but from it I learned how to interview peo...
A column is one’s opinion
“I understand the argument that you can’t be expected to agree with everything you publish, but his column is different from a syndicated writer’s in that regard. Whether or not you endorse him, he is speaking for the management of the Sunday News by virtue of his position as an employee.

...
Playing local Fear Factor
“Winston takes good, like a cigarette should.’’


“See the USA in your Chevrolet.’’


I’m showing my age with those ads, but that also shows, many years later, how effective those repetitive ads were.


Which brings me (surprise) to two county commissioners, Molly Henderso...
An editor in blunderland
Tuesday was one of those days.


I went to an early-morning meeting of the Lancaster County Convention Center Authority, where a version of “Alice in Wonderland’’ played out, Mad Hatters, March Hares, Queens of Hearts and all.


The “special’’ meeting was called to approve the fili...
I can still cry ‘Uncle’
He lies just a few feet from a field on the family farm. Next to him are Aunt Gloria and an infant son. Three sons survive.

Seven months earlier, we held services for his older brother, my Uncle John, in the church a few yards away.

My mother is now the last of her immediate family....
Litigations 'R' Us
I think the NBA season will finish about the same time.


Greetings!




Speaking of my friends, the commissioners, the letter last week from famed attorney Richard Sprague, demanding a retraction for their comments about the county’s former law firm, Stevens & Lee, sounds li...
Counting their days



When will county Commissioners Molly Henderson and Dick Shellenberger take their stand in front of heavy equipment at the Watt & Shand site?




Daze of our lives




The soap opera that is the downtown convention center-hotel project continues.


T...
Not naming (some) names



Addresses (not exact ones, but the block number of a street or road) will still be used so that neighbors are aware of problems.


Victims of crimes have told us they feel they’ve been victimized twice because lawbreakers know their names once they’re published.


Appar...
Do as I say, not as I can't
Notes, quotes and I want you to get out there and vote in Tuesday's primary election.

Sorry, but I won't be joining you.

I'm a registered independent. I'm also a free thinker, who goes his own way.

Except at home.

Making the news It's always an eye......
No spring in his step
It’s a funny movie, and the title is probably based on the old saying “in spring, a young (and older) man’s fancy turns to baseball.’’


For the first time this spring, the fancy that has moved me since I was 9 (and managed by the legendary Homer Mylin) to play organized baseball or softbal...
Stork tried to deliver us



Ahead of her time


The news that Lancaster’s city hall needs more than $4 million in repairs reminds me that Janice Stork, in her second term as mayor, wanted to buy the old post office building on West Chestnut Street for a couple of million and spend a couple of more million ...
The heart of the issue
“I’m hopeful this report will help Lancastrians understand what actually happened at Conestoga View,’’ said Commissioner Chairman Dick Shellenberger of the $100,000 study that showed running the home cost the county an average of $875,000 over the last five years.


Not so fast, Dick, Molly...
Bad news bearers



So you say




I always smile when a reader tells me there’s only bad news in the newspaper.


The truth is that many of you don’t bother reading the good news, because you’re not interested in it. It’s difficult to tell which articles are being read. There are......
Extra, extra: Skunks dying
The reader didn’t think a picture of President Bush getting hit by a cricket ball, and articles on an Amish farmer fined in the death of a nephew, and the county trying to attract family reunions, belonged there, while an article on millions starving in Kenya was printed on Page 7.


What r...
Princes of darkness
The sale of Conestoga View is a perfect example of what can happen when public officials work in the dark.


Would the commissioners be in the mess they are in now if they had brought this before the public immediately?


Would county residents be on the hook for so much money in a...
Spinning O'Reilly
I enjoy watching and listening to Bill O’Reilly. The Fox pundit is a real newsman who knows what his public wants, and he delivers. His no-nonsense attitude also keeps the shows moving. I love it when he gets that “I can’t take any more of this’’ look on his face and cuts off a guest or caller.
...
Factoring in Bill O'Reilly
Readers react


I’m never sure of how readers will react to what’s in the newspaper on Sunday. Discuss us, cuss us, but please don’t ignore us.


We hit the mother lode last Sunday with three columns. One, by Gil Smart, wound up making the Bill O’Reilly television report ......
Who’s on first, what's on ...
Some of us have resigned ourselves to skipping to the fourth or fifth paragraph of “news” stories to see what they are about, but I don’t think we should have to. It usually even takes the fourth or fifth paragraph to find the actual score of a sports event.


I realize that every journalis...
Religious war in the cartoons



In wake of the violent reactions to the Danish cartoons, where is the outrage at the hypocrisy so quickly attributed to church and religion?


Yes, there is the obvious hypocrisy of the Muslim-based media that publish anti-Semitic and anti-American material. But when U.S. news a...
Clyde, editor say goodbye
That’s right, Clyde. My last day in the office will be Oct. 29.


“What’s going to happen to me?’’


I’m afraid, Clyde, that our little weekly chats will end.


“Do I have any say in this, Mr. Editor?’’


Not now, Clyde.


“Doesn’t seem fair, Mr. Editor. ...
Mayor’s race not black and white or gray
“Like a band, Mr. Editor, full of sound and fury,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.


How’s the city race going between Mayor Charlie Smithgall and challenger Rick Gray?


“Caught the debate the other day at Rotary, and thought it was pretty even.”

...
Clyde can only ask, ‘But why?’



“Where are they coming from?” my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.


Who, Clyde?


“Dick Shellenberger and Molly Henderson, the county commissioners. Why are they so strongly opposed to the convention center-hotel project? Why were they so insistent...
Opponents of county home sell-off seethe
“That county commissioners meeting Wednesday was one of the most contentious sessions I have attended in quite some time,’’ my jogging friend said, sipping his coffee.


How’s that, Clyde?


“About 60 hostile people who opposed the sale of Conestoga View had no kind words for the c...
County home being sold in broad daylight



“It’s business as usual with the county commissioners,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee. Sounds as though you have a problem with that, Clyde. “You can say that, Mr. Editor.’’


What gives, Clyde?


“Well, the proposed sale of Conestoga V......
Clyde can’t figure sale of county home
“There’s a chance that the sale of Conestoga View may be put on hold,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.


How’s that, Clyde?


“The county commissioners are taking a lot of heat from some respected community leaders, and it’s starting to show, Mr. Editor.’...
Neighbors not dancing to the music
“Some folks in the city are pretty upset by loud music,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.


You mean in cars, Clyde?


“No, Mr. Editor, from a bar in center city.’’


Oh. Which one?


“Marion Court.’’


What’s happening?

...
Fences don’t make good neighbors
“We are having a battle of the fences,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.


What do you mean, Clyde?


“Suzy Hoover and Gaudenzia want to install a fence between their properties. And from the looks of it now, Ms. Hoover is going to lose.”


Can yo...
Clyde joins in verbal beating of public officials



“Don’t know about new, Mr. Editor, but there’s a lot of anger and suspicion floating around,” my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.


Such as?


“Well, the raise that legislators voted for themselves isn’t going away, Mr. Editor.


“Usually ...
Clyde talks about change, change-ups



“Being summer, Mr. Editor, you would think that things would slow down in this town. Hasn’t happened,’’ my jogging friend said, sipping his coffee.


What now, Clyde?


“Well, there’s a plan floating around to address concerns about Central Market. It was discussed for ...
Clyde taxed by the news



“Nice to be here again, Mr. Editor.’’


Good trip?


“Oh, it was fine. Ocean Isle (N.C.) is a pleasant community. Lots of beach, golf and happy hours. We had a couple of minor incidents, but that’s to be expected.’’


Such as?


“Had to go to a dentist...
Clyde busts commissioners for speeding



“The county commissioners played a little ‘full steam ahead,’ on Wednesday,’’ my jogging friend said, sipping his coffee.


Indeed, Clyde. What do you mean?


“They approved the sale of Conestoga View in record time, Mr. Editor. It took the commissioners only six days f...
Clyde notes sweet, sour at council
“It was quite an unusual council meeting Tuesday night, Mr. Editor,’’ my jogging friend said, sipping his coffee.

How’s that, Clyde?

“It started with a song and ended in a walkout. In between there was even some city business that took place.’’

What’s with the song, Clyde?
...
Runoff could run off city do-gooder
“Suzy Hoover is having problems again,” my jogging friend said the other day, sipping on his coffee.

What do you mean, Clyde?

“Last year, the basement of her house at 204 E. King St. flooded because of some wayward work. That was essentially resolved after much anxiety, but now she has...
A healthy argument from Clyde



“Lot of talk around town about setting up a county health department,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.


Who is pushing it, Clyde?


“Some doctors, Mr. Editor, who believe that health care could be improved with the addition of a department.’...
Clyde gives his school of thought
“Right, Mr. Editor. It’s also whining time,” my jogging friend said the other day.


What do you mean, Clyde?


“That situation at McCaskey, Mr. Editor, where some seniors got into trouble.’’


What happened Clyde?


“A week or so ago a bunch of seniors painted th...
Clyde whiffs on the game
“Caught a Barnstormers game the other night,’’ my jogging friend said, sipping his coffee.

How did it go, Clyde?

“That sure is a nice stadium, Mr. Editor. Don’t think there is a bad seat in the place. The concession stands, the restrooms, the Barnstormers’ store, all are first rate....
In city project, Clyde finds enmity building
"Saw where the folks down in Washington worked out a compromise on the judge thing, Mr. Editor,'' my jogging friend said the other day.

Right, Clyde. Sounds as though the voice of reason came out on top.

"One of the columnists said that was quite an accomplishment, especially in light ...
Results are in, Clyde takes on interpretation
“No, Mr. Editor. It went pretty much according to plan,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.

“But there were a couple of interesting tidbits, Mr. Editor.’’

How’s that, Clyde?

“Ivan Acosta-Velez lost his bid for a council seat on the Democratic side; so did...
Speakers play beat the clock
How’s that, Clyde?

"At the city council meeting Tuesday night, and at the commissioners’ meeting Wednesday morning, officials put a three-minute restriction on public comment.

At council, the ruling met with opposition; at the commissioners’ meeting, it had general acceptance.’’
...
Clyde loses his memory (electronic)



“Had a little setback the other day,’’ my jogging friend said, sipping his coffee.


What happened, Clyde?


“My Palm expired, Mr. Editor. Came up blank, couldn’t retrieve anything. So I threw it in the drawer, never to be tempted to use it again.’’


Well, tha...
Clyde wounded in war of words
“People are getting nasty in this town,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.


How’s that, Clyde?


“I’ve been to two public meetings this week, city council and the county commissioners, and the level of discourse was scraping the floor, Mr. Editor.

...
Clyde ponders the future of newspapers
“Loved that prelude to summer we had a couple of days ago,” my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.


“What have you been up to, Mr. Editor? Saw where you were on vacation.”


Sort of a vacation, Clyde; actually, a newspaper convention in Washington, D.C.

...
It’s music to Clyde's ears
“Beautiful music,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.

Oh?

“Right, Mr. Editor, a radio station here in Lancaster has returned to an oldies format, and it sounds great.’’

Showing your age, Clyde.

“That’s OK, Mr. Editor, as long as I can hear the Four...
Back in town, Clyde finds same battle
Good morning, Clyde. Nice trip?

"When you mix good weather with good golf, it means a good time, Mr. Editor,'' my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.

"But I see some things haven't changed since last we talked.''

You're right, Clyde. They still are fighting ov...
Clyde’s take on week that was



“That’s putting it mildly, Mr. Editor,’’ my jogging friend said Saturday, sipping his coffee.


“Rarely have I seen such a tumultuous time, Mr. Editor. The action by the school board Tuesday night has really got the town heated up.


“There has been a flurry of charges ...
Clyde backs the project
Good morning, Clyde. Got your fill of this convention center/hotel/school board controversy?

“No, not yet, Mr. Editor,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.

“As you know, the school board, the county commissioners, and city council will vote in coming weeks whethe...
Clyde airs his travel complaints




“How’s that, Mr. Editor?’’ my jogging friend asked, sipping his coffee.


You know, March came in like a lion; now let’s hope it goes out like a lamb.


“I’ll second that, Mr. Editor.’’


What have you be doing, Clyde?


“Riding airplanes, Mr. Edit...
Clyde: Decision on project will tax school board



“Chalk up the action by city council and the redevelopment authority as minor victories,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.



How’s that, Clyde?



“At council, the land where the convention center and hotel are planned is zoned CB (Centr...
In the line of Clyde’s fire


Good morning, Clyde. What’s on your mind?

“Voting, character and deer, for starters,’’ my jogging friend said the other morning, sipping his coffee.

That’s quite a list, Clyde. What about voting?

“Saw a compromise on a voting issue over at the election board meeting on W...
Issue blooms in flowerpots


Sounds as though you don't like the cold season, Clyde.

"It's not that, Mr. Editor. Cold weather can be very invigorating. It's the streets that tick me off.'' What do you mean, Clyde? The potholes? "No, although they can get bad. It's the dirt and trash. In winter, it seems much wors...
Clyde's musical stroll down memory lane


Hit the little ball? "Managed a few rounds, both in Sun City, Ariz., and Palm Springs.'' So what else did you do for entertainment, Clyde? "Caught a couple of shows in Palm Springs, Mr. Editor.

"One evening we had dinner and after caught a one-man production of Cole Porter music. Had ...
Clyde figures city’s raises are too high
“Money,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.


Always a fun topic, Clyde. Want to tell me more?


“Saw where the mayor and city council are in line for a pay raise, Mr. Editor.’’


Right, Clyde. Haven’t had one in a while.


“And I don’t thi...
Cowards of the county, says Clyde
“Things are heating up over at the courthouse, Mr. Editor,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.


How’s that, Clyde?


“Remember the days when the county commissioners were seen but not heard?’’


Right, Clyde.


“Well, unfortunately that’s ...
Clyde sounds a lot like Santa Claus
"Nice celebrations, Mr. Editor,'' my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.

Get some running in?

"As usual, did the Pagoda thing in Reading. It's tough going up, but even worse coming down because you jar your legs on the steep inclines.

"Can still feel it. But y...
Maybe council also believes in Santa Claus
“Well, thank you, Mr. Editor, and the same to you,’’ my jogging friend said the other morning, sipping his coffee. Did you get caught up in the ‘Happy Holidays,’ and ‘Merry Christmas’ thing, Clyde?


“No, not really. I think it’s the thought behind the greeting that counts. If someone’s ......
Have luggage, will travel ... and lose it
“Took a couple of days off, Mr. Editor. Does wonders for your disposition,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.



Go south again, Clyde?



“We went down and had an early Christmas with the grandchildren in South Carolina.’’



And golf, Cl...
Clyde learns what country cousins think
“We have our ups and downs, Mr. Editor, why do you ask,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.



Saw a study the other week, Clyde, that said that folks in the country aren’t too happy about some things.



“Welcome to the club.’’



This pie...
Clyde points finger at Shaub
“Ate too much, Mr. Editor, but what else is new,” my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.



See the resignation of Ron Bailey, the chief county planner, has created quite a stir, Clyde.



“The county has lost one of its leading figures, Mr. Editor. And fro...
Catch Clyde before lunch, or ... Z-Z-Z
“For the most part, Mr. Editor,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.



“Why do you ask?’’



Saw a piece in the paper, Clyde, that a good night’s sleep, seven to nine hours, helps you lose weight.



“I can handle that, Mr. Editor. As the y...
School ‘coach’ faces tough field position
“Steelers won,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.



Don’t brag, Clyde. This is Eagles country.



“Just stated a fact, Mr. Editor.’’



But you know, Clyde, on any given day...



“Yes, yes I know, Mr. Editor. Any team can bea...
Clyde votes for new ways
“Still can’t understand why we have such an archaic way of voting, Mr. Editor,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.



“Everything still is on paper. My name is on a sheet of paper, and somebody writes down that I voted on another sheet.



“This is a N...
Copping out on bike officers
“Quality of life, Mr. Editor,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.



Still harping on it, huh?



“Won’t go away, Mr. Editor. Comes up at nearly every meeting I attend.



“People start out saying that the quality of life in the city is det...
Clyde touches all the bases
“Baseball, homes, politics – you name it, Mr. Editor."

All revved up, huh?

“You might say that," my jogging friend said, sipping his coffee.

Guess you were excited by the Red Sox-Yankees series?

“One of the classics, no doubt, Mr. Editor. Most people that I know were root...
Clyde shows off collection of thoughts
“There may be a new life for an old building,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.



Where’s that?



“The former police station, there on Chestnut street.’’ What’s going in there?



“Don’t know for sure, but the possibility of putting ......
No conspiracy on ethanol plant, says Clyde
Good morning Clyde. What's going on? "There's a pretty good conspiracy theory going around that few care about,'' my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.

What's it about, Clyde? "Vince Foster, the guy found dead in a park near Washington, D.C., in July, 1993, early in the Cl...
Clyde shows he possesses street smarts
“City is fiddling with some streets," my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.

How’s that?

“The traffic commission, the other day, approved making Mulberry Street, from James Street to Harrisburg Avenue, two ways."

Why, Clyde?

“Seems like some business ow...
Neighbors know what's in store?


Such as? "There was a zoning hearing last month that drew a whole flock of people. They were against the reopening of a convenience store at West Chestnut and North Pine streets.

"David Longenecker, a neighbor, was especially upset after the zoning board this past Monday approved the ...
Controversy on ethanol plant sure to expand
Good morning, Clyde. What’s new?

“Ethanol, Mr. Editor," my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.

That’s not new, Clyde. It’s been kicking around for a couple of months now.

“Right, Mr. Editor, but what’s new is the scope of the proposal. It’s just a blip on the ...
Local flights to take time and money
“Airline passenger service is returning to Lancaster today," my jogging friend said, sipping his coffee.

Do you think it will last, Clyde?

“A lot depends on prices, Mr. Editor. And we’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out. What are you hearing?"

Talked with Joyce Opp, La...
Clyde: City projects get off the line


See where HealthGuard is pulling out as sponsor of the Red Rose Run, Clyde.

"Well, with the company folding, that was inevitable. Still, it's a shame, Mr. Editor. Jim Godfrey, who headed up the company, and his crew always performed well. Many of the volunteers who did all the little ...
Officials bob and weave on ethanol plant
Really! How’s that?

“Starting to feel the heat from some folks who are rather staunch in their positions.’’

Clyde, get specific, will you?

“Certainly. Barbara May from Manor Township and a couple of other folks don’t like the idea of an ethanol plant proposed along the Susquehan...
Clyde questions liberal majority in newsrooms
“Of course," my jogging friend said, sipping his coffee. “How about you, Mr. Editor?"

I’m enjoying the presidential race, Clyde. It’s a real heavyweight battle. Don’t remember ever seeing this much advertising, some of it, by the way, a tad below the belt.

“How does your staff feel ......
Clyde recalls when summer was simpler
“Too fast,” my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.

“Already, kids are talking about going back to school.”

Was summer better back in Pittsburgh when you were a kid, Clyde, than it is today

“In a material sense, Mr. Editor, no. But an argument can be made that ...
Cynical Clyde awaits debates
“At most, two minutes," my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.

Really into politics, huh, Clyde?

“It’s not that, Mr. Editor, but what will I learn from watching it?"

That’s a bit of a snobbish opinion, Clyde. Are you that smart?

“Didn’t mean it that way...
Baseball a big hit for Clyde and grandsons


Such as? "I think minor league baseball will go over big here, Mr. Editor.'' That's not an idle observation, Clyde? "No, Mr. Editor. Once again I took the five grandsons to a game at Myrtle Beach. Saw the Pelicans play the team from Lynchburg, Va. They play Class A ball down there, and it's ...
In Clyde’s book, James Buchanan comes in last
“Been reviewing history to find out about some old things, Mr. Editor,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee?

Such as?

“Rating our presidents, Mr. Editor."

Noticed a bunch of stories appeared just after Ronald Reagan died, Clyde.

“And already he is be...
On Pearl St., irritated crowd
How's that, Clyde? "Went to a meeting the other week in which a bunch of neighbors were really ticked about the plans for a counseling service to move into an old school over on Pearl Street.'' Why, Clyde? "Two reasons, Mr. Editor. Sex offenders are treated at the service, and the residents say they...
Clyde sees brighter side of city
“You ran a letter the other week, Mr. Editor, that deserves a response,” my jogging friend said, sipping his coffee. What about, Clyde?

“Living in the city.”

From a woman over on Mulberry Street, right Clyde?

“You got it. That’s only three short blocks from where we live.”...
Railroading the citizenry?
Good morning, Clyde. What’s going on?

“Watching government work has its moments," my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.

What brings all this on, Clyde?

“Sat in on a couple of meetings, Mr. Editor, where the subject of trust came up. It may be a reflection of ...
‘Homer’ is not hit with Clyde
“The announcers for the Phillies,’’ my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.

Come now, Clyde, are you going to dump on them?

“Not Harry Kalas, Mr. Editor. He does a fine job.’’

Well then?

“I’ve learned to watch the game without the sound when Chris Wheele...