http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote Back in the old days -- that's less than a decade and before there were such things as blogs and interactive conversations with readers -- editors used to respond to their newspaper readers with an "editor's note." Sometimes it clarified a point made in a letter to the editor. Sometimes it offered a correction. Sometimes it was just a simple explanation. An editor's note was a handful of sentences; maybe a four or five paragraphs. It was always a personal link between the editor and the reader. Only difference between it and today's blog is the immediacy and the platform. Welcome to Editor's Note. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:40:06 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en When I moved to town in 1991, I built a something I loosely named the "must call back" list. The list has morphed many times over almost two decades, but for much of that time the Top 20 remained reasonably consistent -- allowing for the occasional retirement, unexpected death or ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2009/11/19/whose-phone-calls-must-be-returned/ Every other year after 50 and ditch the breast self exam. That's the new mammogram recommendation from the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force, a government panel of doctors and scientists. The American Cancer Society's recommendation remains, at least for now, annual mammograms after 40 and do the monthly thing. The "LGC ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2009/11/18/go-ahead-get-the-mammogram/ For me, it boils down to this: The terrorists ought to be locked up wherever it costs the taxpayers the least and wherever the security is the best. Usually U.S. Congressman Don Manzullo would sing a similar tune, but these days he's more about touting the national Republican line. President Obama ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2009/11/16/gitmo-or-thomson-terrorists-lock-up/ I groan when I hear we have yet another Editorial Board with some governmental, non-profit, out-of-town "developer" or quasi-public-private group that has, ta-da, the solution for downtown Rockford. Our board has heard the plans, partnerships, consultants and pipe dreams for decades. The messages never change, just the mouths out of which ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2009/11/13/downtown-could-this-be-the-one/ For decades, Bill O'Donnell has been the host for lunches around town that bring together a motley assortment of friends, acquaintances and strangers to share a meal and a conversation. In the golden age of conversation, we knew these as salons. They weren't 60-minute business breakfasts where a deal gets done ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2009/11/11/of-history-and-heroes/ Get over it, people. We're done with the Zits stuff, though I admit it's been a fascinating observation of human behavior. Start with this: From Nov. 5, when I did the first post through this morning, Nov. 9, the two Zits posts drove more than 1,250 page views. For context: Editor's ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2009/11/09/zits-debate-pushes-record-traffic/ Sometimes I just love a tempest in a teapot. Takes my mind off the serious issues I deal with everyday. Occasionally it's fun to get all pseudo-excited about not much. So, when Jeremy's parents took their clothes off in the Zits strip, well, I pulled it, sent nasty-grams to the ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2009/11/06/the-clothes-are-back-on/ I just pulled my favorite comic strip, Zits. And, it'll stay pulled until creators Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman put some clothes back on Jeremy's parents. If you don't follow Zits, none of this will matter to you. If you do read Zits, here's why it's gone for now. Seems Scott ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2009/11/05/jeremys-parents-are-naked/ When I read this headline, I smiled -- and then I was ashamed. After all, violence is never a good thing and beating up a coworker in the newsroom is the stuff of which firings are made. Here's the headline and the story to go with it: Washington Post's"... Weingarten says ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2009/11/04/tossing-a-typewriter-at-a-reporter/ We are never going to learn, so I'd pretty much decided not to run on about this ever again, but then there was last Wednesday morning. There it was, all bright, clean concrete. Another curb cut along the Rockford side of Riverside Boulevard. Oh, I understand why it's there. The small ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/editorsnote/2009/11/03/another-curb-cut/