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 09/07/02:

The Story	A glider crash at the Decatur airport kills Elena Latham, 32.
News worthiness (on a scale of 0 to 5)	**
The Spin	Never fly in a plane without an engine or one labeled "experimental aircraft".

The Story	Four people were arrested in Decatur on methamphetamine charges on August 28, 2002.
News worthiness	*
The Spin	Didn't we win the War on Drugs?

The Story	H.D. Boswell goes on another rant about school taxes and comes to this conclusion if taxes continue to rise at their current rate through 2014: "Nice 3 bedroom brick, 1600 square feet built new in 1997 at a cost of $60,000, school tax is only $7,630 per year. Reduced!"
News worthiness	**
The Spin	The scary part is that his math is correct.

The Story	High school football kicks into gear with big wins by Bridgeport (53-13) and Decatur (56-0).
News worthiness	**
The Spin	More exciting that the upcoming Battle of Big Sandy is the shocking fact that Alvord won a game for the first time in the new millennium.

The Story	An unusual mistake made the lead story in the Messenger on Wednesday: "The total number of students on Wise County [school] campuses was 2,536, compared to 2,401 last year". This correction on page 11A of the Saturday edition: "The total number of students enrolled in public schools [is actually] 11,131".
News worthiness	*
The Spin	Math classes still have a couple of spots available.

**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	365
Number of new births announced by parents with different surnames (or no father identified):	3 (50%)	118 (32%)

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

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