Wise County on the Web

A tongue in cheek review of the news published this week regarding Wise County.
Normally posted every Sunday around 10:00 p.m.
(Note: To make sure you are receiving the most recent update, hold down the "Shift" key while you click on reload/refresh).
For the week ending 04/06/02:

The Story	Decatur Mayor Bobby Wilson and council member John Coker complain in public about Planning Director Stephen Burnsworth. Three days later, mayor-to-be Joe Lambert writes an editorial criticizing the comments saying that "public criticism of anyone on staff is detrimental to the morale of all the employees."
News worthiness (on a scale of 0 to 5)	**
The Spin	This isn't your father's old Decatur political system anymore.

The Story	A 14 year old Decatur boy allegedly shoots his 12 year old brother in the knee.
News worthiness	********
The Spin	Can't we blame this on something? Video games? Schools? Parents? MTV? Carrot Top?

The Story	H.D. Boswell, via letter to the editor, continues his campaign to wreck the Decatur ISD $38 million bond package. "The 80 acres at [the] Carson [site] are a disaster . . . The 80 acres is a dog. Sell it or trade it and get it over with."
News worthiness	*
The Spin	There seems to be an odd theme from the anti-bond folks of: "We're still hacked off about the Carson land purchase a few years ago, and we're gonna pay you back for it now." (Not that one has anything to do with the other).

The Story	A Paradise teacher kisses a pig as part of a fundraiser. The curious part of the story was this sentence: "[The pig] had been on an Ensure diet for the past couple of weeks or less, and had dropped from 288 pounds to 263 pounds [to qualify for the youth fair]."
News worthiness	*
The Spin	Ensure?

The Story	Decatur issues a building permit for a 24 room Deluxe Inn and a 54 unit Days Inn.
News worthiness	**
The Spin	Can we trade in all the motels for one good Marriott?

**Special Highly Technical Research Project to be Conducted Throughout 2002:**
	New This Week	Year To Date
Number of new births announced in the Wise County Messenger	6	145
Number of new births announced by parents with different surnames (or no father identified):	2 (33%)	42 (29%)

See something in the local papers that struck you funny? Then suggest a topic for The Spin.

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