A less significant story is the fact that some people slated to receive tax rebate checks won't get them becase (gasp!) they didn't pay any income tax! How unfair! It's an AP story, more appropriate for page A8. Why is it on the front page, when the big story of the day (the death of Alan Schafer, creater of "Pedro," billboard mascot for the South Carolina tourist trap "South of the Border") is relegated to page A12?

Morgan Simmons' story about elk coming back to the Smokies is well-reported and illustrated by a lovely photo. It's nice to see the Sentinel doing reporting on this kind of story itself, instead of relying on regional wires.

More Pam Reed news, with the byline shared by David Keim and Tom Humphrey, this time relegated to A4 in spite of (because of?) the fact that it contains actual information. No, not the part that is headlined (the state may sue Reed for -- hold your breath -- $750!) but the information in paragraph 18. Apparently, Reed had a copy of the University of Kentucky's sexual-harassment policy in her desk, with a section about consensual relationships perhaps still constituting harassment highlighted. A better story would have linked this to Reed's history (listed without comment way back when this first broke in the Sentinel) of filing sex-harassment suits against employers. The mention of that might suggest that Reed was acting in a rather predatory manner here all along. Hell, maybe she is Keim's main source. (No Deep Throat jokes, please). NOTE to Keim & Humphrey (or possibly their editors): a news story is a narrative. That's why it's called a "story." You need context and an indication of how events flow one from another. A collection of facts isn't a news story any more than a dictionary is a novel.

Also on A4 is a story about a "solemn" group of 40 people gathering at the Capitol in Nashville to express their "outrage" at the actions of "unruly antitax protesters" the week before. (Question for editors: can you be solemnly outraged?) The story recycles the same list of allegedly violent behaviors: three broken windows (reported elsewhere as other numbers between one and four -- can't people count?) and people banging on doors. Quelle horrible! Normally one must look to a Backstreet Boys concert for such wanton depravity! (Yesterday's Sentinel reported on the only person actually charged with violence at the protest: a state trooper under investigation for using excessive force against one of last week's protesters. Apparently, nobody was protesting that yesterday.) The story notes that many of the anti-antitax protesters, who carried signs reading "We care and we'll share" were representatives of churches, but doesn't mention that churches are tax exempt. Hey guys, how about paying your fair share?

In light of our state legislative contretemps, Thomas Sowell's oped (A10) on Gary Condit makes a point that should be bipartisan: "If nothing else comes out of this tragic story, it should give pause to those who speak so loftily about public service as somehow nobler than business or commerce or other ways of making a living. Politicians are not larger than life. As human beings they are often smaller than life -- and more warped." Amen. (Does this last sentiment make SmarterSentinel tax exempt?)