On a happier note

Instead of reducing precious farmland within the urban growth boundary, let's get rid of some asphalt! Image by BikePortland.org via Flickr

This is awesome.

P.S. If you don't know why we need land for growing food a lot more than asphalt, here's a pretty good primer.

Why we won't miss the Statesman-Journal when it follows the Seattle P-I and Rocky Mountain Daily News

Coming soon to Salem. Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Wow. Just wow. We hear a lot about the collapse of the "mainstream media" and how their advertising revenue is eroding almost as fast as their subscriber base. You wonder if you should be concerned, but then you hit on a "story" like this and you know that, like the dinosaurs they are so often compared to, their disappearance will make room for much smarter, nimbler species.

Recently, misinformation about the proposal began to surface, prompting the city to set up a Q&A document on its Web site.

Too bad the cliched, passive-voice-adopting SJ doesn't bother letting people know what "misinformation" has "surfaced" (which way to the beach?) out there, nor do they bother examining any of the statements in the city's "Q&A" document.

Back when newspapers mattered, editors told reporters to trust no one, particularly if they stood to gain from a certain outcome. "If your mother says she loves you, check it out" was the rule. Now it's "If a bureaucratic official says something, just copy it down and run it."