Editors' Corner

The end of Postum

BILL MILLER

How did this get past Battle Creek?

Imagine my surprise when listening to Scott Simon on NPR last week mention the passing of Postum, the roasted-grain beverage cooked up and marketed to the world for most of the past century from right here in the Cereal City.

Apparently Kraft Foods Inc., which in November announced the sale of its Post cereals division to Ralcorp, a month later slipped out the word that it was dropping the manufacture of Postum as well.

Check these out

JOHN GRAP

Over the weekend we had outstanding student athletes from Galesburg-Augusta and Lakeview high schools competing at the state championship level in Ypsilanti.

What a joy and privilege it is for us to be able to cover these great young people. We were very fortunate to have talented photojournalists Hannah Reel and Bob Youngs and videographer Aaron Harris cover the fun.

Lakeview Swimming Champs Gallery and Lakeview Swimming Champs Video

Galesburg-Augusta Basketball Finals Gallery and Galesburg-August Basketball Finals Video

Out of the office

STACY HANNA

Sometimes, even as editors, we get to report a story. Not as often as most of us would like — and it generally puts us behind on our other work — but it happens. And I, for one, love it. Crave it, in fact. And today, I got my fix.

A week from Monday, we're publishing a special section called Eight in '08, in which we'll provide readers with ideas for places to go and things to do in the upcoming months. Stuff that is near enough to enjoy in one, round-trip day. Nearly everyone on the local desk is contributing to this section, a couple editors included.

Today I set out with a photographer and my notepad, headed to Chelsea. The trip took the better part of the day, definitely put me behind schedule on other things and I couldn't care less. I stretched my too-often-dormant reporting skills and look forward to turning out something fun and informative for readers.

Reporting is a treat for an editor and a reminder of why we became journalists in the first place.

Should we care about Cheney's visit?

ERIC GREENE

Vice President Dick Cheney is planning to fly into Battle Creek on Friday for a quick jaunt to Marshall, where he'll headline a campaign fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton.

From a media standpoint, Cheney's visit, while historic, is likely to be quite boring. As far as I know, Cheney has no plans to make himself available to the public or to the press. His office is issuing press credentials so that we can cover ... (wait for it) ... his landing and departure at W.K. Kellogg Airport. That's it.

So if we're lucky, we'll get a picture of Cheney walking off the plane and another picture of him walking back onto the plane. His ride to Marshall, his time at the fundraiser and his ride back to BC are strictly off-limits.

Clean water

JOHN GRAP

None of us, starting with myself, should ever take good, clean water for granted.

Bob Warner wrote a story several weeks ago about Teresa Cooper, the Battle Creek Central High School teacher who worked recently in a Kenyan orphanage.

Today she wrote to us about an urgent need the orphanage has for a new water pump.

Whether we have private wells or rely on "city" water we are very fortunate to have access to good, clean, hot and cold water. Let's never take it for granted.

Caper will officially announce commitment soon

BILL BRODERICK

Battle Creek Central standout running back Larry Caper is close to giving his verbal commitment to play for Michigan State University, but hasn't done so officially.

That is the news. That's all the news. And that was the news earlier in the week when Jeff Karzen of the Enquirer was the first to tell its readers exactly that.

You wouldn't know that by looking at some of the recruiting sites out there.

Give ’em a break – not a raspberry

STEVE SMITH

Since it began more than a decade ago, our Roses & Raspberries column has become one of the most popular features on the Enquirer’s opinion page. It originally ran only on Saturdays, but now usually runs both Saturdays and Mondays. Even then, we often get more items than we can accommodate in a single week.

Local vs. non-local on 1A

ERIC GREENE

One of the continual balancing acts I attempt to pull off is the news report on Page 1A every day. I'm in charge of the local news gathering operation and, as this is a local newspaper, I strive to have as much local news on the front page as possible.

However, on any given day, events happen nationally and internationally that are relevant to local readers, even if the event in question didn't happen in the Battle Creek area. That's when we decide, usually in our daily 4 p.m. budget meeting, which non-local stories, if any, to put on the front page.

You bet we know they're No. 1

BILL BRODERICK

The same calls come every year.

Did you know the state finals are this weekend for... (put your favorite sport here).

It is usually from a concerned parent, looking out for their kid - which I think is a good thing. It's better that they are concerned than not concerned.

But what they forget, is that we are concerned also.

At the Enquirer, we cover high school sports as well as any paper in the state and we always cover the state tournaments and have stories leading up to the state tournaments.

So this week, it was swimming's turn.

The e-mail read, did you know the state swimming finals are this weekend and did you know Lakeview is ranked No. 1?

Well no worries, we are all over it - as usual.

A picture can tell a thousand words, sometimes

JOHN GRAP

You know the cliche about a good picture being able to tell a story that many words can't?

As a photojournalist I hope that can always be the case. In reality, it doesn't always happen. Case in point is today's story about colonoscopies.

It would have been cool had we been able to line up a patient, as we did several years back, to follow through the process. Trying to do things in good taste, it might have been great had we been able to tell the story in photos and videos.

Unfortunately we just aren't able to line things up like we would like.

If you could have heard  George Smith, talking to his friend, Sam Carpenter, over lunch at Burnham Brook you would know the importance of a colonoscopy.