We Really Like Readers Who Take The Time To Email, Critique, or Compliment. Here Are Some Recent “Back and Forths”
Reader: Is it really necessary to make cute and insensitive remarks about a very troubled local person (Mike Hile) who lost his battle with the demons. I’m very disappointed in your style of reporting the news. It smells of smug superiority.
Editor: I was pretty good pals with Mike, and he made no bones about who he was. That said, I can’t say that I totally disagree with you. That was my first shot at creating, “entertaining police reports,” and I will try and do a better job in the future. Thanks for taking the time to comment, I’m getting sick of all the compliments and realize the value of critique, in order to improve.
Reader: Thank you for the response Andrew and I appreciate that you see a possible better way… I’m sure Mike was self-depreciating, it’s a common trait of those who are troubled to the depth he was, but I would also bet that given a choice he would have wanted a different life. My point is that humor at the expense of others is never funny and as you can see, people like Mike are important to me. No-one is perfect, especially me, so thank you for listening. And FWIW, I do appreciate your efforts to provide local news for the area.
Reader: I am disappointed that you changed your policy regarding publishing police reports. If there were a story of general interest or something humorous, I would agree with printing it. For example, a man in a Florida city called 911, requesting the police bring him beer. The responding officer did not make an arrest, but explained that 911 is for emergency calls. A short time later the same man called and asked that someone get him some ice cream from his refrigerator freezer as he didn’t want to get off the couch. That time he was arrested.
Editor:
Thanks for the note and thanks for reading!!! I appreciate your opinion and while I can’t make everyone happy on this subject, I think you will enjoy the comedy approach as it gets better……. The bottom line is that in order to be successful in publishing this site, and improving it, the demands of the readers and community have to be considered. In this case people read the police reports more than they read the news, for various reasons. Even me, who would rather only court reports be made public, look a various police reports every day. Its hard to ignore that reality in the publishing world….
Reader: Andrew Cuomo at the Belmont Hotel. I believe he was still campaigning, but here’s proof that he was, indeed, in Allegany County at least once.
Editor: This message was in response to the recent article we published about the major changes in the Governors mansion. Allegany County Chairman Curt Crandall said in that article that, “I personally invited the Governor to visit Allegany County on numerous occasions and he has never set foot here.” According to the reader, that isn’t true, and supplied this photo. It wouldn’t surprise me if Curt wasn’t invited to the campaign stop 🙂
Curt Crandall Reads and Reacts:
“I remember the visit to the Belmont Hotel by then Attorney General Andrew Cuomo – campaigning for Governor at the time very well. I tried to have him meet with myself and a couple of others while he was in town, as our Attorney General – he didn’t have the time. As our Governor, my statement stands. In numerous face to face conversations at the Governor’s Mansion in Albany he was personally invited to our county as Governor, as well as written invitations. He never took the time.”
Reader: Hi – my reasons for being interested in this subject are too long to type here BUT I agree with publishing the reports but without names, simply because I believe that all US citizens are “innocent until proven guilty” and am sure some would automatically believe a person is guilty just because they were arrested and our judicial system still operates on that assumption.
Reader: This is for Chuck W. I get a little dizzy reading articles with your use of so many quotation marks when they aren’t necessarily necessary. You may want to look up their proper usage along with the proper placement of punctuation in that regard. Please don’t tell me you also use your fingers when quoting. When people use air-finger-quotation-wiggles they assume it’s also being used properly when we all know what happens when one assumes. If you’re a fan of SEINFELD, you may remember the episode of Elian’s misuse of comas. It was great but it’s only funny in the comics. I’m not trying to be a Debbie Downer but it’s driving me nucking futs.
Reply From Chuck Wiser
Please pass this, or my comments, on the the reader.
First off, thank you for reading my article(s) and secondly for taking the time to reach out with your comments. I am aware of the rules for the use of punctuation within the quotes marks.
I confess to a) sometimes typing faster than my mind works, and b) to overly using the quotes marks. Thank you also for heading me back to Wikipedia and “Funkin Wagnel” to re-examine proper usage. You are very perceptive in picking up on my use of quotes marks as “air quotes.” I do this in text book style exactly as described in this explanation. The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS), 15th edition calls them scare quotes in section 7.58. “Quotation marks are often used to alert readers that a term is used in a nonstandard, ironic, or other special sense . . . They imply ‘This is not my term,’ or ‘This is not how the term is usually applied.’ Like any such device, scare quotes lose their force and irritate readers if overused.”
“Mayhaps” I do use them too frequently but often do so taking poetic license in their placement. This particular article, consisting of a bulleted list of items probably made their use more predominant or noticeable. I do not want to dizzy you, but, at least it shows me that you are reading the entire content and not skimming.
In my re-search on the topic I did learn a few additional things, and I do “live to learn.” I have always been puzzled as to how to “nest ‘quotation marks’ within a sentence.”
If the Editor forwarded this to you directly showing my address, please feel free to stay in touch, and/or and reach out whenever you would like. Keeping me honest, and forcing me to learn is fine by me.
Thanks again!
Chuck “not always” Wiser.
