InkBlots

We missed her formal introduction to the community last month, but Chris Zimmerman has taken the reins of the Laurel Leader-Call and got aquainted with readers in a December column.

Pulitzer Prize winner Art Buchwald died Wednesday.

The Meridian Star on the public’s right to know and reporting bad news: ” Our job is to keep our readers informed. We are here to be the cheerleaders for the community when the positives occur. That type of reporting is easy, and it feels good. Equally as important, however, it is our job to be the eyes and ears of the public when things go wrong.”

The Star’s editorial answers responses to this story.

Meanwhile, Star assistant editor Steve Gillespie ponders the prolific use lately of the N-word: “Since November the N-word has probably had more exposure than it ever has. From comedian Michael Richards’ tirade at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood on Nov. 17, to our District 5 Lauderdale County Supervisor Ray Boswell’s use of the word in a year-old police video we reported on in December, and this past week as a group in the Enterprise community came together, upset because Coach Tommy Perkins allegedly used the word toward one of his players.”

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal on the decrease in cancer deaths nationwide, but continued struggles in (surprise) Mississippi: “…while the overall news is good, Mississippi does not fully share in the encouragement. The ACS’s estimated death figures in Mississippi from cancer this year project only a tiny decrease from 2006, including a virtually steady number of deaths from lung cancer…”

Star-Herald editor Mark Thornton offers advice on rhetoric and fully-funding MAEP: “Anytime you hear a so-called education proponent or school official say these four words — “It’s for the children” — grab your wallet and run. Fast. Hind-end first, so they can’t pick your pocket on the way out.”

The Mississippi Press wants to snuff it out: “Ban smoking in public places.”

For the top editors at USA Today, the nation’s largest newspaper, visiting South Mississippi post-Katrina is akin to walking on the moon for the first time because it is impossible to describe, said Ken Paulson, the paper’s editor.

Journal Publishing Co. declared a $125,000 fourth-quarter dividend to its sole shareholder, the CREATE Foundation, at a recent corporate board meeting.

The New York Times reports on the Oreck company’s decision to pull up stakes in Long Beach and move on to Tennessee.

The Greenwood Commonwealth has posted video on the Internet of the altercation between a cop and a GHS student last month. The incident is drawing attention on a national scale now; the student involved and his lawyer are tentatively scheduled to appear Friday on CBS’ The Early Show.

Remember the brouhaha over Oreck CEO Tom Oreck’s challenging the authenticity of quotes that appeared in Nashville and Biloxi newspapers? Well, Sen. Trent Lott has weighed in, and, given Oreck’s 10-year tax exempt status ends in 2007, he smells something fishy with the company’s announced departure from the Mississippi Coast.

Cathy Hayden has turned in her reporter’s notebook, departing the Clarion-Ledger to become a public relations officer for Hinds Community College.

A Leflore County chancery judge has delayed a decision on whether a school security tape of an alleged violent confrontation between a student and security guard will be made public. Meanwhile, a $1 million lawsuit against a Greenwood cop, Police Chief Henry Harris and the City of Greenwood was filed by the attorney for the Greenwood High School senior at the center of imbroglio.