Coming: Simon announces

I've just heard that Ellen Simon has filed for the AZ-1 seat soon to be vacated by Richie Rich Renzi. That's two so far.

Cohen: "Dick Cheney will lie, denying that he's a liar"

The Courier editors give us a truncated version of this Cohen column, headlined at Real Clear Politics as "Kucinich's Case Against Cheney." (It's from yesterday, but for some reason has yet to appear on the WaPo site.) For you scorekeepers out there, it's 297 out of 758 words, broken mid-paragraph. So again it's liberal-opinion-as-filler, but on the upside the headline is sort of intelligible and there's no editing inside to screw it up further. A very simple slashing.

Editorial: "Anti-day labor bill’s veto was political"

The unnamed Courier editor concludes that the Governor's intention is political. Apparently he has a stringer inside her head.

I'll give you what the Courier hasn't: the bill, which makes it a crime to stand in certain places with an intention. It does not, of course, provide any criterion for determining a person's intention in the absence of doing anything other than stand. Or maybe stop to light a cigarette. I'm not the lawyer Janet is, but this bothers even lowly old me.

The Courier editor likes this bill. I wonder whether he's actually read it. Perhaps he likes it because he can always tell what a person's intention is.

Talk of the Town: "Gun control proponents turning us into cowards"

Bob Shimizu, whom I know as a fellow jazz musician, runs down the standard talking points at length and with gusto, offering nothing you haven't read before on the Courier editorial page. His big idea: to address the big problem of mass killings by psychopaths, an event less likely to kill you than a lightning strike on a clear day, we should allow permit holders to carry their guns on campus. Presumably no permit holder would ever use it to hurt anyone.

More gunfights! That's what we need.

Letters: Twin rants

James Baker can't figure out why local lawnforcement can't enforce laws over which it has no jurisdiction, and Susan Patricks wants to give Elise Townsend a punch in the nose. The interesting bit is the correction related to yesterday's letter from Amy Reyes, citing an "editing error" -- was it Amy's error, or the editor's?

Cartoon: Absolut Yeltsin

I expect the Courier editors celebrate the demise of the Soviet Union, yet in a tawdry example of doublethink, they present the man who actually led that action, on the occasion of his death, as a bad pun on a commercial. Classy, guys. Knock a guy when he's dead.

A1: "April offers no relief as fire season approaches"

There's blessed relief from the usual fluff in today's page-one photobox, as Joanna Dodder provides an actual news story that should matter to everyone living here. Clear writing, good detail, Joanna gets a cookie.

A1: "Lowe's construction site raises concerns"

Cindy Barks paints us a picture of discomfited Councilcritters grilling the Lowe's representatives over the mess they're making. What I'm not seeing is any indication of whether the construction crews are doing anything that Council didn't approve. It reads a bit like a show for the complainers, but without that crucial bit of information, we can't draw a conclusion.

A1: "Two teens prompt two pursuits in stolen jeep incident"

As I hoped, Mirsada Buric turns in a followup on the pursuit story from May 1. Together the stories present an object lesson in reporting.

Both rely heavily on police reports, including raw tips from witnesses. I'll focus on just one example. One of those tips in the preliminary report describes the perps as men in their 20s. Once they're in cuffs we learn that they were both 15.

This detail colors each story for the reader. In the first we learn that adult criminals are lurking in wait to steal cars. In the second they are bored teenagers hanging around looking for a thrill. These are very different lessons.

This is why I characterized this and other details in the first story as 'clutter' -- not because I knew the story better than the reporter, but because they didn't tell the reader anything useful, and we could expect that most of them were junk.

A11: "Council tables vote on Monogram’s plans for Young’s Farm"

Doug Cook pulls together the relevant facts, but someone buried the lead.* The D-H Council tabled the decision, true enough: to the next council, essentially passing the hot potato. Maybe that's the smart thing to do, but I think it's an important angle, perhaps indicating just how controversial this development is. Since the Courier has taken an editorial position on this decision, it should be more circumspect in its news coverage of the topic.

* Yes, I know that journos love to spell this as 'lede.' All editors make style decisions, and this is mine, for me: 'lede' is elitist insider jargon, as yet unaccepted in standard dictionaries.

Coming?: Renzi speaks a puzzle

Found on Think Progress:

Yesterday in an interview with Phoenix’s KPNX, Renzi spoke for the first time since the FBI raid and said that he believes he is being smeared by the Justice Department. He refused to take any responsibility for the land deal, instead charging — without any evidence — that the leaks on the investigation were “lies.” He added that “to make that up and put that out means the Department of Justice was engaged in electioneering and that needs to be investigated.”

Does he believe it, or is he just flailing?

A1: "$500 rewards offered in search for 22 wanted felons"

I dunno what to think about this, it just feels kinda seedy. What do you think?

A1: "Locals come out strongly in support of Mesa Airline"

Cindy Barks summarizes the Council echo chamber about scheduled passenger air service. The missing bit is that Council hosted the same debate and made the same vote last time this came up, but the DOT went with the other guys anyway, so we might like to know why it might go differently this time.

Cindy didn't write the headline that gets the company's name wrong, so no blame there.

A1: "Election commission drops charges against Renzi"

This AP report, the main Renzi story across the mainstream media today, is a fascinating study in lipstick on a pig.

If you don't read too closely, it appears that Renzi has been exonerated of wrongdoing in his 'reporting errors' related to campaign finances. You might just skip over the $25,000 fine as some sort of incidental expense. That's a conviction, folks, but it's soft-pedaled in favor of another point of investigation that the FEC decided was properly sorted out.

There's a tipoff a few graphs in, where we read briefly about "another FEC matter' involving the DNC, clearly placed to help minimize the judgment against Renzi. Perhaps the reader won't notice the difference between a sitting Congressman, subject to House ethics rules, and a political organization.

There will be more on our Congresscritter.

A1 and Editorial: The Wal-Mart fine

Cookies all around.

On the front page under "Wal-Mart committee will pay $22,500," Ken Hedler puts together a clear and concise report on the settlement of the legal issue that's dogged the Wal-Mart support campaign since before the election, this time leaving out any backhand slap at the opposing team. The research exposes the facts of the matter and leaves them for the reader to analyze.

Following up, in "Wal-Mart 'disagreement' leaves many questions," the unnamed Courier editor moves that analysis forward, and puts a couple of pertinent questions for the future. While he reflexively asserts that the result of the election was foregone despite the hanky-panky and neglects to note the Courier's direct role in supporting that side of the issue, I think overall we can say this is how local-issue coverage should be done.

Letters: Questions, questions

It's almost a theme. Virginia Lewis asks the Courier to cover the local shortage of health-care providers accepting "Medicare alternative" insurance. Gary Sanderson asks about the letters policy related to out-of-state correspondence. Craig Farr asks why the Courier published nothing sooner on the Townsend Construction story, and whether there are other such stories on the spike. All good questions with no replies from the editors.

Meanwhile Amy Reyes responds admirably to questions about the PHS prom location. Good on her.

Talk of the Town: "Agricultural tax exemption is being abused"

Bill and Laura Fields seem to have done a pretty good job of research to support their thesis that ranchland tax exemptions are both unfair and widely abused. The writing's clear and to the point, making a good model for local-issue discourse. I plan to ask Rep Mason about this on the weekend.

Cartoon: White flag

Do the Courier editors really believe that Prescott needs more reinforcement of a talking point that only the Current Resident seems to believe? When both active and retired military, soldiers and officers on the ground, legislators on both sides of the aisle, diplomats, the intelligence community and the majority of Americans have reached a clear and public consensus that no good can come of continuing the illegal Iraq occupation, when the original public objectives of overthrowing Saddam and installing an elected government have been achieved and no other clear objective has even been put forward for consideration, how can one possibly characterize ending the pain as 'surrender'? Because you've got a specific political agenda, that's how.

Guys, you're trying to make your readers dumber again. You have much better stuff available from 'the right' that you could be using, and that goes for your editorial page as a whole. Look for cooler, smarter rhetoric and you may begin to win back some credibility.

B1: "Area teens learn about life’s pitfalls"

In the annual feature on Teen Maze, Derek Meurer talks with the organizer at length and describes what it's about. What's missing is any reaction from the customers about why they come, what they think of it, or whether it's effective. It's always looked to me like a colossal exercise in preaching to the converted. Is there any evidence to the contrary?

Coming: The story that keeps on giving

AZ Congress Watch links to two more angles on the Rick Renzi story today, one from Harper's and the other from Roll Call. At this rate the Congressman will soon need his own weekly supplement.

Letters: A spanking for the Elks, a cookie for the editors

Today's assorted mailbag brings us a nice bouquet of posies from a couple of recent immigrants fleeing commie-occupied San Bernardino, and a smackdown of Parker Anderson blaming the audience for not showing up at the Elks.

I've got that bone to pick with Parker as well, and if all goes well you'll see it in Read It Here pretty soon.

B1, Jackson: "The beauty of Prescott Pops Symphony"

Thanks for covering the Pops, Jerry. You're right about that rock.

Editorial: "Monogram's plan is worth consideration"

Walled enclaves good. More houses inevitable. Zombie say send more concrete.

A1: "Smoking ban unpopular at PV bars"

I'm so surprised. Nice little stroke in here for Brad Fain, though.

A1: "Police look for men who sped away in Jeep"

I expect there'll be a followup to this clunky police-report filing by Mirsada Buric, since it raises a few very pointed questions among those of us who remember the carnage left by a high-speed chase into Prescott from PV a few years ago and the official excitement about (and big money spent on) regional dispatch facilities. From a writing standpoint, the paper had all day to work on this one, it shouldn't read like it was dashed off in the five minutes before deadline.

O'Reilly: "Not sad to see Rosie leave 'The View'"

Bill looks into the mirror and anoints himself as an oracle. Carried more or less verbatim -- the odd exception being the Courier's deletion of 'Ms.' from his references to O'Donnell -- under the headline "Adieu, Rosie." If you're really bored, check out billoreilly.com for the columns that the Courier didn't carry, and speculate on why the editors find this one more interesting.

Happy Holiday

The first of May has a grand tradition as a holiday, going back millenia, due to its position more or less halfway between the solstice and equinox. Whether for you it's Beltane, Walpurgisnacht, International Workers Day, Labor Day or just plain May Day, live it up.

The US is characteristically odd one out on this because of the Red Scare, which moved our Labor Day to September, but it's still a sort-of-official day, as noted by The New York Times, "Law Day."

In keeping with tradition, President Bush has issued a proclamation inviting Americans today to “celebrate the Constitution and the laws that protect our rights and liberties.” It rings more than a little hollow, though, as he continues to trample on civil liberties in the war on terror, and stands by an attorney general who has politicized the Justice Department to a shocking degree.

The less committed a president is to the law, the more need there is for Law Day, which makes it a holiday whose time has come.

Coming: Yet more Renzi

Via AZ Congress Watch, today we learn that Grant Woods has either been pushed aside or jumped ship as Renzi's lawyer, the East Valley Trib is calling on the Congressman to pack it in, and the Daily Star has come out with an interesting angle on one of his land-swap deals. Tons o'fun. I'll watch for what gets printed.

Besides, 200 is a nice round number for posts in April.

Coming: Plugging the dike

I'm looking forward to the Courier editorial responding to Virginia Governor Tim Kaine's executive order today expanding background checks for gun-seekers. Place your bets.

Background on the Luer Rocket story

In comments this morning Steve LaVigne offers an inside angle on the story from April 24 and what had gone before, including a cookie for Jason Soifer.

"The Courier refused news about the rocket in September 1984. (We had the rocket right out front of their office!) The Prescott Sun got the scoop instead! 22 1/2 years later the Courier puts together an article! Jason did a good job and researched the article. It actually seems to have a small amount of meat in it.

"Interestingly enough, The original Courier incident in 1984 made me come to the conclusion that the Courier really wasn't interested in local news!"

Those were the days of Jim Garner, who'd been on the paper since the late '50s, and nobody on the Courier now was involved then, I expect. You gotta wonder whether the office culture changed much, though.

Followup, 11:20am: Steve tells me that the the Courier eventually carried the story because Jason Soifer happens to have a family connection to the rocket's history. I kinda figured it was something like that, as that's how things usually work in smaller towns.

Amster: "Glut of information leads to apathy and confusion"

The glitch in the headline on the free version is apropos. Randall nicely restates the condition of our world that psychologists and Alvin Toffler first predicted in the '70s. But to what end? I kept looking for some suggestion, again to make the voter smarter, but I can detect no call to action here other than a sort of vague 'get used to it.'

Randall (two Ls in your name this week -- where was the other before?), as the token local leftie we depend on you to speak to the local leftie consciousness on local issues. I know you don't want to be drawn into standard ideas of oppostion and conflict, but there's no one else who can say these things. Take a position!

Editorial: "Teaching girls to fight back"

In the anodyne of the repackage-page-one-plus-"this is icky" formula, we have a repackage of page one plus "I like this." Waste. Of. Space.

A journalist, on the other hand, might have made a couple of calls and come up with a quote from the public-ed czar about adding the program to the statewide curriculum, for example, or maybe a cost estimate and options for paying for it, in other words some contribution to the public discourse that makes the voter smarter.

Editor: You have to knock out a couple hundred words a day. It might go better if you treat it as an opportunity rather than a dull chore.

A1: "Statewide tobacco compliance operation kicks off"

Let's see, you take out a full-page ad on Wednesday warning businesses that you'll be checking on whether they sell a highly addictive drug to kids, then run teenage ringers on them for four hours on Saturday and you still get a kill rate of over 20%. Yet for some reason I'm not getting from Mirsada Buric's story that anyone thinks we have a serious problem here. Rather it reads like good news that PV retailers spotted the ad and tightened up. Sheesh.

We do get some stats on why tobacco is a problem that needs dealing with, and that's to the good. But it's all pretty light.

I'll look forward to reading about a compliance operation against the bars that flout the statewide smoking ban starting this week -- holding my breath, but not for the story.

A1: "Opinions on frontage road go both ways"

Honestly, you go to all the trouble of laying tons of new asphalt for them, and some people just complain, complain, complain.

Um, exactly what makes this news?

A1: "Developer pressing Chino on projects"

From Doug Cook we learn the litany of complaints from a rich developer, and it's certainly not outside the bounds of possibility that Chino Valley is doing him dirty, but I don't see that Doug went to town officials for the other side of the story on why they're demanding so much. What's up with that?

Again, Doug, it's 'leaching,' not "leeching." You need verb agreement in the subhead too.

A1: "Call for peace in Darfur"

It's interesting to watch how the bottom of page one has become the protester's corner of late. Leafy photo of the square + people with passionate views + homemade signs = not much, really, but at least the issues are getting out there. It's like a letter to the editor, but you get a photo too.

Courier editors: The Darfur problem stopped being 'purported' genocide when the US Secretary of State publicly identified it as such. Honest, this isn't just a hippie issue anymore.

A1: "Three new principals at helm of schools"

Not sure why it merits page-one treatment, but Shari Lopatin's piece on a changing of the guard isn't bad. Educators need more props, it's hard work for low pay.

A1: "CV area residents support property tax reform"

Every year people get up in arms about their assessments. I've seen many references to this in the Courier, but I've yet to see any numbers on actual changes in the taxes we pay, and Paula Rhoden's story is no exception. We're left to presume that the taxes go up at the same rate as the assessments, which ain't necessarily so.

There's also a suspiciously extensive description of Prop 13 that leaves out its strong negative effect on California's finances. Can we look forward to a Courier editorial on the evils of property taxes, or perhaps support for the next attempt to foist TABOR (cf here and here) on us via initiative?

A7: "Rep. Groe had drugs, alcohol in system during DUI arrest"

This deeply buried AP report details some legal trouble for one of our local radical rightists. If she's removed, it's unlikely that Lake Havasu will replace her with a Dem, but it's within the bounds of possibility that it'll be someone a little more, shall we say, sober, which would be a good thing.

Cartoon: Amateur

This is just evil.

Talk of the Town: "Make drivers slow down ­ legally"

Jody Knight makes a truthy legalistic case against photo radar enforcement, citing various court judgments, at least one of which (Minnesota) wouldn't appear to apply here. Fine, well, we have an opinion, but the Courier provides no indication of who Jody Knight is or her/his credentials for giving us legal advice.

Editorial: "Contact DOT with your say on Love Field's air service"

The Courier calls us to action on the burning issue of which corporation will be allowed to chow down at the public trough while providing luxury service to rich people. Ack.

I'd have been very happy to put in my two cents, but the DOT site gave me no joy from the Courier's docket description.

Editorial: "Four rules of firearm safety apply to all"

The unnamed Courier editor (guess who) intones the gun rules with religious fervor -- I'm reminded of Heston and the Ten Commandments -- to wag a finger at the VA security guard. He rails against the world he himself creates.

Update, 2pm: He's talking about this, Lefty, from Wednesday.

Update, 6:25am Sunday: Link fixed, I hope. That was odd.

Talk of the Town: "Human error, bad bins affect alley"

Mike from Pearl's Place details a series of whiny excuses for Whiskey Row businesses turning the alley into a stinking mess. Fine, Mike. Did you at least cc this to the City Manager?

There was a time not long ago when the businesses would have got together on this shared problem and made a solution happen rather than wait for someone else to fix it for them. At the very least they would not be allowing their neighbors and employees to make it worse.

Letters: Guns are good

Sorry, Marie, the only 'crying out for help' that Cho was doing involved more ammo. We can probably have fewer of them, but we'll never completely eliminate the dangerous psychopaths among us. And as long as we tolerate so many who think like Mr Brunstein here, eagerly awaiting the chance to personally save the world using his hip-mounted manhood, we're manufacturing them faster than we can medicate them.

Update, 12:50pm: Link fixed.

A1: "D-H P & Z recommends rezone of Young's Farm"

It looks like Dewey is going to get its gated enclave on the old farm. After all, "We can't stop growth. Growth is inevitable," chants a longtime Dewey resident, doing the mental yoga of bending his desire for "nice homes" around his rural nostalgia and through his lust for property value. Whatever.

Yo copy editors, y'all clearly need a refresher on verb agreement. I'm seeing way too many of these: "A vocal group of residents still oppose the plan, ...."

A5: "Napolitano: Time is now for action on climate change"

It just steams me that the position statements of our Governor on what will surely be the most important issues of our time wind up buried in a wire story on the Business page. What are they thinking?

A9: "Lawyer says he will run for district 1 seat"

Set conveniently below the turn on the Renzi story, the first Dem declares for Renzi's seat, focusing on vet's issues. The rush is on!

A1: "Renzi insists he is not resigning"

This AP repackage of stories from the last couple of days includes a little whine from a Coconino pol about the rumor that Renzi will give it up. This is a a bit silly, since Renzi himself was the original source.

Letters: Environmental impact over breakfast

AS Russi refers to this from April 11 in calling out City Manager Norwood for doing no more than toe the legal line on water impact assessment. I think Russi may be overstating the City's position somewhat, but we've still had no fact-finding by the Courier about this, going back to the Renzi quote covered on April 3.

Following that we have a fascinating little movie script about breakfast at an unnamed local elementary school, not to be missed.

Editorial: "Wastewater treatment costs are adding up"

The unnamed Courier editor correctly points out that the numbers on City wastewater services are mounting up. Lay those numbers next to the proposed costs of diverting the base flow of the Verde River into Prescott toilets and you do indeed start to talk 'real money.' But conveying that information is a news-beat job. Editorials are about taking a position, and in this case the editor missed an opportunity. I get the feeling there's a certain unease about all this in the Courier office, but he's not willing to go further.

There are plenty of people in town who've been expressing unease about this issue for years while the Courier poo-poohed them. Now faced with the hard numbers, the Courier goes wishy-washy. Progress?

Oh, and guys, I know the Senate Minority Leader has been much on your minds with the Renzi thing going on, but our public-works director is still called Craig McConnell. You knew that, of course.

A1: "Nurse treats abused children with smiles"

Departing from recent practice, in its obligatory page-one picture/fluff space the Courier today is carrying a human-interest story that angles in on the very real public issue of child abuse. Here's a cookie for Mirsada Buric and the editors.

Talk of the Town: "Life’s not a beach thanks to council naysayers"

Earl Burden gets in a massive whine because the City isn't buying into his wacky dream of artificial beaches on our lakes. Oy.

A few years ago, when the water was almost entirely drained from Watson Lake, I hiked with a pal across the center of it. It's an impressive landscape, ringed with weird rocks, dotted with the ghostly white heads of still-rooted trees draped in lost fishing gear, all buried dozens of feet deep in stinking black muck. Why anyone would think it safe to swim in that cesspool is utterly beyond me.

Then there's Willow Lake, nothing more than a marshy floodplain, more fit for grazing pronghorn and cattle than swimming -- well, wading, really. A beach on the edge of this puddle makes about as much sense as socks on a chicken.

Thanks to the Courier for showing us just how out of touch some of our neighbors are.

A1: "Parking system strives for flexibility"

Leaving aside the dumb headline, in which a thing can somehow 'strive,' Cindy's coverage points out very clearly how short-sighted codes impede useful downtown development, and how pressure from downtown landlords and businesses may be turning that around. Good stuff.

A1: "Prescott lags behind in public transit"

No kidding.

Cindy Barks' story has a lot of good, clear info. But what's going on at the end? Of the 15 pitiful souls who managed to show up for this meeting, only one appears -- the guy who thinks that this should all be handled by private companies. I smell something missing here.

A1: "Parties float names as Renzi probe heats up"

Joanna Dodder mixes it up with the wire reports to provide a good overview of this breaking situation. What was a blog rumor early yesterday has developed into Arizona pols on both sides lining up for a possible special election. Renzi's not dead yet, but his pals have already rented the hearse.

Coming: More Renzi

Apparently Grant Woods (the former AZ attorney general, no?), now working as a lawyer for Rep Renzi, revealed a big lump of unreported cash last week to reassure prosecutors that all was on the up-and-up. Will it work?

The Hill:

"Failure to disclose a large payment properly would be a violation of House ethics rules, but more significantly, prosecutors could use it as evidence that Renzi knew the transaction was illegal and tried to hide it."

Think we'll see more on this in tomorrow's Courier?

Talk of the Town: "More than talk, water worries are in the numbers"

In a piece that for some reason didn't make it onto the free site, zoology prof Richard Clark drones on wonkishly about the basics of water budgeting, warning that because we're taking out more than is going in, we're gonna run out.

Pretty basic, I think.

Why is it that our various legislators, supervisors and Councilcritters don't get it? Maybe this piece, a difficult and stodgy read unhelped by a cloudy headline, is an example to answer that.

Editorial: "Laborer bill deserves governor's signature"

In his first words the unnamed Courier editor gives away his highest priority in this issue: "The view."

That's really what it's about, isn't it? We don't mind having the positive effects of the work these people do, we just don't want to see them. We don't even care whether they're illegal, really, only that they're brown and untidy.

Farther down we get a nice little frame for the Governor's decision: if she signs it, she's courting independent voters, if she vetoes it, she's courting Hispanic voters. Of course there's no chance that she'll decide on the basis of whether she thinks it's good law, right?

By the way, guys, it's Immigration and Customs Enforcement, not "Immigration Customs and Enforcement."

Letters: Anarchy, MJ and bags of poop

The letters column today kicks off with a guy who thinks taxpayers need more say in how their money is spent. Here's you clue, Dave: it's called a vote.

In the middle we see a familiar comment from MJ, cross-posting to the Courier online comments system. Go MJ, and I encourage all readers here to do the same.

Finally a Vietnam vet confirms just how awful those peaceniks are by repeating the legend of returning troops being taunted and pelted with shit. Like everyone else I've heard these stories, but also that no one has ever reliably confirmed they actually happened. Anyone have a good source?

A1: "Bill seeks to protect Agua Fria, other sites"

The nice, straightforward information piece by Joanna Dodder comes with a light dessert. This bill has been part of Rick 'Richie Rich' Renzi's new greener strategy, but he's had to hand off to Raul Grijalva and isn't answering phone calls from the press. Awww.

A1 "Great Lakes, Mesa vie for Prescott air service"

The public contention seems to be focused on which passenger air service to use. But about halfway down we learn why it's a public issue at all: the 1.7 or 1.8 million bucks in public subsidies to provide the service.

I'd have liked to see a declarative sentence stating exactly where this money is coming from. If I recall correctly it's all federal, but readers would be excused for inferring that since the City Council is voting on it, it might involve some from our local coffer.

It would also have been interesting to read a response by Mr Lamerson, for instance, to the question of why he supports federal subsidies for business travelers.

A1: "Granite Gate annexation plan opens debate among residents"

Cindy Barks details how once again the City Council is in hot water for failing to discuss changes to a neighborhood with the neighbors before putting them on the public agenda. Architect and former Councilcritter Tom Reilly knows more about this than most, so his surprise at the reaction is likely feigned.

The story's OK, but the headline is misleading, giving the impression that residents disagree with each other, rather than pretty uniformly with the City action.

How it's done in the big leagues

An especially egregious example of editorial chicanery came to light today, involving The New York Post, operated by Rupert Murdoch (Mr Fox), "rewriting" an AP story under byline. This might be instructive for Courier readers.

Editorial: "Prop. 200 represents Arizona voter's will"

At last, a Courier editorial that is all original writing conveying a viewpoint with relative clarity. The viewpoint amounts to pointless flailing at a favorite inflatable punching clown, the Ninth Circuit, which did something the editor didn't expect, which is uphold the law -- we've grown so used to the other thing under the Bush adminstration, after all -- but the unnamed editor gets a cookie anyway.

As a poll worker I've had to deal with the effects of Prop 200 on the retail level, and believe me, guys, it's not just Dems and minorities who are pissed off about this. Those most affected among my customers have been older Republicans.

Letters: Love for Lovell

Tom Gatchell gives Terry Lovell another attaboy for facing down a whole planet of scientists with a brain so amazing it got him a job on KYCA.

Anybody else on this bus remember when those of us who understood the threat of atmospheric heating due to fossil-fuel use were the radical fringe? It's fascinating how people can deftly shift their arguments from 'we're the majority, so we're right' to 'we're smarter than the majority, so we're right.' The rub is that science may not accept a given theory, but once it does it never rejects it again in favor of the previous model, because the previous model has already proved inadequate. The boat's already left, folks.

Goodman: "Conservatives taking women out of the abortion debate"

Today's column, originally headlined "Politicians Playing Doctor," on the Supreme Court ruling is complete and only marginally harmed by the Courier's arbitrary edits and introduced errors. It slays me that the editors are compelled to 'improve' on work already done by some of the nation's best writers and editors.

A1: "Sewer upgrade costs could exceed $500 million"

So now we're getting an idea what the bills will look like for the large-scale growth the City has been encouraging for two decades. If the projections are roughly correct -- and for $300,000, they'd better be -- new sewer projects, no maintenance, no repairs, will cost $5,000 per living soul in Prescott, or $10,000 per person showing up to live here over the next 25 years. That's a fair bit higher than the impact fees on new construction, of course, but you can bet this cost won't be paid by developers.

Good work, Cindy.

A1: "Program teaches girls self-defense techniques"

Brava, PV! Shari Lopatin's story on the collaboration between PVPD and educators to teach girls about self-defense techniques demonstrates good thinking by both. I suspect it also has something to do with promoting women police officers to positions of authority.

Couple things: We learn that it's a new curriculum, and in the last graph one of the girls says it's mandatory, but we're left to infer that all middle-school girls will get this training. I'd also like to know how many girls are involved and whether girls in charter and home-school programs will be included.

A1: "Renzi steps down from more committees"

Joanna Dodder gives us a rundown on the sniff-test situations that Rick Renzi has been slowly simmering in since October, resulting in Friday's FBI raid on the Renzi business in Sonoita and his committee resignations. But she missed a couple of important details: Attorneygate and ROMP.

Update, 1pm: WSJ continues its coverage with new stuff, via Kos.

Editorial: "Tough laws better for impaired drivers"

Drunk driving is dangerous and stupid, and we need strong measures to stop it. On that I agree with the Courier editor here. Where we differ is that I think those measures should also be effective, and they should address the real problem.

Stopping a drunk driver by putting a lock on his car may stop the car from moving, but not the drunk. People share and borrow cars all the time, so while the innocent wife of the drunk is trying to get a balky machine to allow her to go to work, hubby is out in his brother's truck making mayhem unimpeded. The car is not the problem, it's the driver.

I wonder how the Courier would react to legislation proposing that the state put a breathalyzer interlock on a drunk's gun.

If a person is convicted of endangering the public with any deadly weapon because of substance abuse, that person must be prevented from doing it again until the substance-abuse problem is clearly eliminated. If that means physical restraint, so be it. The real problem here is that neither the drunk nor society takes this issue seriously enough. We're doing essentially nothing about the root cause, which is the easy availability of an addictive drug and a culture that encourages its abuse. If the Courier editor had thought to include some stats, it might have helped.

Lambro: "How did Tech gunman escape notice?"

Today's Lambro focuses like a laser on school officials for failing to have Cho illegally committed, or something. I checked the original, titled "Lessons of Virginia Tech," and while it's about 100 words longer than the Courier version, it unaccountably contains no mention of the guys who sold the weapons to this wacko. Maybe it just slipped Don's mind in the flurry of Republican talking points flying out of his ass.

Letters: PC, global-warming lies, and water

In today's letterbox -- oddly enough, all from locals -- Jeff Tate stands up courageously for the right of rich broadcasters to insult innocent women, Ronald Kotfila stands up courageously against worldwide scientific consensus, and Jim Hamm asks whether, given that we're short of water, we ought not to stop dumping so much of it in the garden. Dumb question, Jim.

B1, Jackson: "Surprise: NAU is in Prescott, too"

Jerry's inside column isn't meant to be serious, I know. But breezy folksiness can be taken too far.

I and the rest of the YC Performance Hall crew appreciate Jerry's giving us some credit, but please don't connect us to the performance on Saturday, that was largely an embarrassment. The Ink Spots did okay, but the Four Lads were losing it, Marilyn King gave us nothing but pathetic croaking, and Pete Barbutti's act was totally Naugahyde lounge.

A1: "The Luer rocket lives on"

Online readers saw this earlier in the month, and it's sort of interesting, especially to old-vehicle crazies like me. But I'm old-fashioned in another way as well: I'd much rather see actual news on the front page of my local newspaper. These regular fluffy photo pieces are a waste of valuable space that should be working to inform the reader.

A1: "Amendments help protect victims"

I suspect that the editors tried to punch up Mirsada Buric's relatively dry summary of detail changes to victim's rights legislation. Instead they punched it out -- out of bounds for a news story, anyway. The headline, lead and bits inside take a clear editorial position, soft-pedaling the downside of the changes that Mirsada details farther down.

A1: "Sunday stabbing victims are recovering"

Two guys using knives inappropriately on the same day does not make a connection between them. I beg you, Mirsada, stop knitting unrelated crime stories together, it just creates chaos on the page.

Herron: "Einstein's concept of God seems best"

Egad, Al, you must really enjoy poking that nest of hornets. Didn't you learn your lesson last time?

Seriously, it occurred to me that we'll never see a piece like this on the Religion page, where it really belongs. Pity.

Editorial: "City's hard work pays off with rating"

In which the editor repackages yesterday's story, adds one sentence to the head and one to the tail, and calls it an editorial. Whew, I hope he was able to get some rest afterward.

I'll bet it went over real well among the good 'ol boys down at the Lone Spur.

Letters: Gang sign in the Courier! (gasp!)

Today's lead letter from Beverly Jolliffe expresses shock, fear and anger that the Courier would provide a platform for the vicious, scary horribleness of a bunch of hick gangsta wannabees doing Presbyterian rap. I'm not sure which is funnier.

The second, from Michelle Harrington of the Center for Biological Diversity, attempts to spank the City Council for not stepping up to the adult table on Verde watershed issues. Hate to tell you, Michelle, but Council doesn't care. Her missive does add some accidental context to Cindy Barks' Monday rundown of the Council agenda though. Anybody else notice how much alike the names of the water groups are? Makes it sorta confusing for the casual reader. Coincidence?

Finally we have another standard out-of-town brown-peril rant, made slightly more amusing by Tom Steele's comment, in which he attempts to spell a common three-syllable word.

A1: "Granite Creek cleanup is an Earth Day success"

Doug Cook gives us a tour of the volunteer effort to clean up the creek and the park, but I've got an unanswered question: Why does it take a massive effort by students and nonprofits to get this done? Is it the City's policy to let the creeks go until some civic-minded volunteers show up? From the looks of things there was a huge amount of trash in just this small area -- granted, a flood basin that catches a lot of floating crap when the rains swell the creek, but right next to what should be our premiere recreation park and along the trail that's supposed to be a primary crosstown walking and biking route. Does the City make any effort at all?

A1: "Collapsing colonies"

Joanne Twaddell visited with the folks at The Honeyman and talked about bees, squishing a national agricultural crisis down into a nice human-interest story. It's a pity it didn't include some expert references on just how widespread, severe and sudden this crisis has been to put it in context and make the reader smarter about the big picture here.

Ignatius: "Rice must be in 'listening mode' during talks"

Today the Courier runs a column that I expect the editors believe is leftist at almost full length, doing a little trimming here and there for space and style, all perfectly appropriate. Except if you're going to do this, you really have to pay some modicum of attention. Take a look at the final graph, for example, in which the editor exercises the Courier dictat that the passive voice is a tool of Satan. The result is gibberish.

Ignatius, "Rice on The Right Tracks":

"Rice's past diplomatic efforts have been limited by the Bush administration's tendency to moralize foreign policy issues and to refuse the very process of dialogue with adversaries that might resolve problems."

The Courier editor:

"The Bush administration's tendency to moralize foreign policy issues have limited Rice's past efforts, and to refuse the very process of dialogue with adversaries that might resolve problems."

Letters: No theme today

In today's letterbox, Vic Pappas liked what Sen Johnson wrote on the 13th (I didn't), and Jeanette Fein calls the Courier out for spreading astroturf.

A1: "Prescott receives upgrade in financial rating"

Another cookie for Cindy Barks for good craft on a dull subject that voters should understand.

A1: "Former Senate candidate's company files for bankruptcy"

Joanna Dodder gives us what feels like a pretty complete rundown on the bankruptcy filing and related background of developer Elise Townsend. There was a lot of criticism of Townsend during her candidacy for rough business practices that this story confirms, not least the abuse of friends and employees that belies the righteous evangelical-Christian image she tried to build for herself. There was also heartburn about her staying in the primary race too long, which left her name on the ballot and buggered things up a bit for the other candidates.

Am I remembering correctly that the Courier endorsed Townsend for the Senate?

Editorial: "Culture of corruption hits close to home"

The unnamed Courier editor makes a salad of Rep Rick Renzi's trouble with the law, starting with a little iceberg lettuce on the actual allegations, colored with the supposed strength of the "Democratic spin machine" (presumably including the Justice Department and FBI), tossed with the old reliable "everybody does it" house dressing, and topped it with a Courier favorite, the term-limit cherry tomato. (Or is it a rubber clown nose?)

I rather doubt that Rep Renzi will appreciate the Courier placing him in the same bad-apple bin with William ("Mr Freezer") Jefferson, but maybe the editor is hoping to one day be admitted to that Democratic spin machine, where we all know the real money is.

Meanwhile there's some real journalism going on over at that great bastion of the Democratic spin machine, the Wall Street Journal (via AZ Congress Watch). Check it out.

A1: "Renzi takes leave from House committee"

Here's the expected AP story from yesterday with a couple of embellishments by Joanna Dodder, in the right place at the top of A1. Pity that no one seems to be answering the phone to speak for Rep Renzi, but I'm not surprised. I'll look forward to the Courier editorial on this.

It's been interesting to watch Renzi's voting record change before and after the 2006 election. By my unreliable finger-in-the-air reckoning he's been voting with the Dems and against the rest of the remaining AZ elephants about 60% of the time, and sending DM to independents polishing his green cred. What I draw from this is that he at least believes that priorities are shifting substantially among AZ1 voters.

Editorial: "Thanks to tipster for making PV safer"

The unnamed Courier editor does a repackage of Mirsada Buric and thanks the citizens who did all the work except the actual arrests. Meanwhile, over on the blog page, John Kamin provides the useful thinking and reportage that should have run in this space, and wins the cookie.

Letters: Sturm and drang about illegals

In another theme edition of Our Readers Speak, several people (half from out of state) exhort our public officials to employ illegal measures to address a non-problem. Mark my words, folks: if you get what you think you want -- and you may -- you'll come to regret it.

For the Courier: Whatever the political stripe of the letter-writer, people uniformly expect you to refrain from manipulating their words. Editing them or arranging them in time violates this trust. Strive to err on the side of the integrity of these gifts from your readers.

Reagan: "Armed students would have stopped campus shooter"

Uh-huh. Too many cowboy movies, Mike.

If you're keeping score: the original, "Gun Laws Kill," is 727 words; the Courier version: 715.

Update, 10:10am: John K provides the smackdown here.

Offline today

I'll be leaving fairly early for our gig at the Chandler Jazz Festival, so if you don't get a reply to your comment, it's not that I don't love you, I'm working and I'll get to it tomorrow. Have a great Friday!

Columns: A question of balance

The Courier prides itself in the political balance it displays on the editorial page. We report, you decide.

Today we have a love-letter to a wannabe Presidential candidate from religio-fascist nutbar Cal Thomas, originally titled "Run, Fred, Run," carried verbatim at 701 words.

Also today we have a view from Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson on the credibility or lack thereof of some of our public servants, originally titled "Are They Serious?," minus 417 of its 766 words. Now, as a topic this is a pretty easy target, but the Courier's elisions eviscerate Robinson's arguments and obscure his craft.

I'm sure these cuts were made to fit the available space, no question. But why cut one by more than half and the other by not one word?

Given the proper treatment of yesterday's column by Robinson, I'm beginning to think that at least in some cases this frequent abuse of syndicated columns is somewhat less political than it seems. Rather, the Courier page editor thinks of non-rightwing columns as filler, and treats them as such.

Editorial: "City Council advances immigration law plans"

The unnamed Courier editor damns the City with faint praise for not doing enough to sweep those untidy brown people off our streets. Presumably the editor has a proposal for how the City should go about it, one that takes into account that the City has no legal authority over immigration violations. I'd love to see that proposal, but so far all I've read is hectoring complaints and political posturing.

Letters: The Queen Bee wants to clarify ...

... and only muddies the water further.

A1: "City plans to borrow $30M for variety of projects"

Another story by Cindy Barks gives us some meat among the page-one filler. This is the sort of dry, totally non-sexy story you really need to read and absorb to be an informed voter, and should be central to the mission of any local paper.

I'd just like to hear more detail on how we're gonna pay for this. I see a little on water/sewer rates. How about some numeric projections and proposals?

A1: "Transit choice now in hands of local governments"

Props to the editors for giving Cindy Barks' story some prominence. We learn that the public "overwhelmingly" supports an extensive fixed-route bus system connecting our communities and workplaces. In the past the Courier has officially poo-poohed mass transit, but that resistance seems to be softening of late. Let's hope our elected officials can see the writing on the wall as well.

Coming: The Renzi raid

The story broke after press time for the Courier last night, so no blame for having nothing in today's paper about the FBI raid on the business of Congresscritter Rick Renzi's wife in Sonoita yesterday. I'll look forward to reading the Courier's treament tomorrow, though.

Update, 9:50am: Anonymous commenter (John K?) points us to this, posted after my A1 read. Thanks for the tip! Now: Will the Courier do any original writing on this?

More fun reading

Check out the new page on local blogs at Coyote Radio.

Open thread: a breather

I'm prepping for the trio's appearance at the Chandler Jazz Festival tomorrow night, so I'd best take the day off from the blog.

Use this thread to comment on today's articles. I notice a smackdown among the letters, a Eugene Robinson column that's probably pretty close to full-length, more posturing about illegals by the City Council, PV cops get (most of) their men, and touching disappointment in Wal-Mart on the editorial page.