Otterblog

One of my favorite road names in all of North Carolina is off Interstate 40 just outside of Raleigh. It’s Jones Sausage Road. And like most good road names, there’s a story behind the name. It’s the place where they make sausage. Or more properly, Slim Jims. The Jones comes from the Jesse Jones brand of hot dogs, one of the original products in the business ... but that’s another story for another day.

Slim Jims are not the best things in the world for you, but they can be pretty tasty in the right situation and state of hunger. All this processed meat nostalgia is courtesy of a great little piece we had in our sports section today on a football player named Keith Newton. He started at WSSU, wasn’t particularly focused, then left school. He ended up at the Slim Jim factory in Garner, turning meat and what have you into beef jerky and Slim Jims. He realized this was a tough way to make a buck and is back at school. A job is a job, and I believe that all professions can be noble callings, but Newton’s descriptions of the inner workings of the Slim Jim empire are a little Upton Sinclairish. Not saying I am going to swear off the occasional meat snack, but I may think twice. As a former political reporter, I’ve always subscribed to the old saying (often attributed to Mark Twain) that “Those that respect the law and love sausage should watch neither being made.” I’ve watched my share of laws being enacted but haven’t had a tour of the other end of that adage.

And speaking of food that isn’t particularly good for you ... yes, the Dixie Classic Fair starts tomorrow. Very exciting. Love the fair. Wish it was 10 degrees colder, but not a whole lot you can do about it.

bbq.jpg

More soccer. More NASCAR. Less NASCAR. Smaller pictures. More politics. More news about the region. Less news about the region. And get rid of F-minus (only a week to go there...)

That is two days of telephone calls with my most important constituency: readers. You all are a demanding bunch, and you have a right to be. I think it amazes people that they can pick up the phone and speak to somebody who is more or less in charge of news coverage. My experience tells me that readers want to vent, that they feel a sense of ownership in the paper and that they take changes to their paper personally.

All of that is great, and I mean it. The difficulty comes in aligning people’s recollections of what the newspaper was with what it has to be to reflect today’s realities (both financial and cultural). As somebody who has been here for nearly 20 years, I’ve seen a big shift in what we do and where we put our resources. We used to have one graphic artist. Now, we have four. So, the look of our paper is better. There’s an argument to be made that those four bodies could be better used as reporters, as gatherers. But that’s not as neat and tidy as people suggest. Our paper looks better today. It has more pop, thanks in large part to our artists, and I have to think that a better-presented paper is a better-read paper.

We still have pretty exemplary arts coverage in our Sunday paper, but to my mind, the best art Sunday was a photo on the Local section of a BBQ cooker made out of a mailbox (see above link). Talk about your special delivery. I am always amazed at the creativity of the cooking class. If you have an interesting cooker, send me a photo.

Some quick notes for Wednesday.

1) There is a very good read in American Journalism Review about the media’s handling of the Duke Lacrosse case. I can’t say there’s anything truly surprising, but the detail and structure of what was said and when it was said is really well done.

2) In a career at the W-S Journal I’ve done a lot of things, and my work has appeared on a lot of different pages and different sections. Today was a first. I consider it a highlight that I made the ”Recipe Swap” part of the Food Section. Michael Hastings, who is our food editor, is a tough judge, believe me and incredibly knowledgable about what goes in our bellies. You don’t want to get in an argument with him about bouillabaise or borscht or blueberries. He had some fun at my expense, which is what he should do…

Many years ago, we sent a reporter and a photographer out to the Nantahala National Forest to do a story on the wild boars out there that were tearing up the place. They spent about 3-4 days, traipsing up and down the hills. They got a great story, but no sightings of a boar. Nature stories can be like that. So it was with a little trepidation that I approached the story that ran today about the search for the Hellbender, a rare salamander that lives in mountain streams. It had all the makings of a snipe hunt, and we were resigned for defeat, as there is a long and proud tradition of nature journalism not quite panning out. (By the way, Boar is very tasty. If you ever see it on a menu, order it ...)

This time, we got lucky. For most of the day, our crack library was hunting down an image of a hellbender that we could use. Not as easy as it sounds (maybe it doesn’t sound easy ...) But right after they found a photo, we heard from our photographer, Kelly Bennett. The researchers had caught one of these critters, and we had the photos to prove it. Our entire newsroom—probably me loudest—cheered. Great story. Great photos.

Summer writing contest: The other day, Merriam-Webster released its list of new words in the 2007 dictionary. Lots of cool words, like Bollywood, and microgreen, etc. So, here’s the contest. You write a three-sentence paragraph or 5-7-5 haiku using as many of these words as you can. I will choose a winner, who will get a free, yes, free, Journal coffee mug, along with the satisfaction of a job well done. Deadline is close of business on July 20. Have fun!!!

We talk about a lot of serious stuff on this blog. Today, not so serious.

Last night, OTTERBLOG Jr. and I took a spin to check out the new Krispy Kreme doughnut sundae, the subject of a story in today’s paper and online.

It’s hard to argue with the basic idea: soft-serve ice cream on a doughnut with some toppings. That said, the concept needs some work:

1) I found the portion a little on the puny side for $3.19
2) The doughnut and ice cream taste all right together, but the cold of the ice cream seemed to harm the airy consistency of the doughnut. A brownie on the other hand is good cold or warm.
3) The nut toppings we got with one sundae came in a little—and I mean little—bag that we had to sprinkle on ourselves. Maybe it’s for sanitation reasons, but the packaging diminished the experience. Felt like the little bags of pretzels on an airline.

Most critical, you can’t drive and eat. OTTERBLOG Jr.’s idea—and you heard it here first—take all that stuff and put it in a blender and make a doughnut sundae milkshake. Might rival the fine banana pudding shakes at Cookout and Mayberry’s.

IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN IT, check out our multimedia on the memorial service for Larry Leon Hamlin, the work of Michelle Johnson, our MM editor.  Good stuff.

I want to get on my soapbox for a few minutes and talk about SB1006, which is making its way through the General Assembly. It’s another example of the slow and steady erosion of North Carolina’s public-records laws. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Tony Rand, of Fayetteville, carves out an exemption in the public-records law for public hospitals when they buy private medical practices.

These purchases have been going on for some time, and are part of the general consolidation in the medical/health care industry, with hospitals having primary care practices. Forsyth/Novant has these arrangements. So does WFUBMC, the other 800 lb gorilla at the opposite end of Hawthorne Road. These are both private, not-for-profit entities, and, the argument goes, that public hospitals need the same sort of privacy if they are going to be able to compete.

It’s a common-sense solution, supporters say. To me, the key word in this debate is public. A hospital that is owned by taxpayers is a different entity. The money, the assets, the reputation, it’s all owned by us. If a private hospital wants to overpay for a clinical practice, that’s OK. But taxpayers ought to know how public officials are spending their money. in addition, this is a slippery slope, as the line between public and private blurs all the time. What public hospitals want one day, city government is going to want the next.

Incidentally, this legislation is a result of a court case won by a newspaper against Wilkes Regional Medical Center. Click here to read the ruling.

Separately, our story today on Cheerwine brought back some fond memories of the Caravan hot ginger ale that Cheerwine’s parent company, Carolina Beverage, used to make. It made you cough, gag and sometimes sneeze, but it was good stuff. The death of regional sodas is one of the great mistakes in this country. Ale-8-One in Kentucky is another good one. Their factory/store is easy to get to off Interstate 64 in Winchester, if you are ever out that way.

You have to wonder about a field trip that costs $2700. That’s what kids at Paisley spent to go on a trip to Europe that included a cruise in Greece, and that ended with their cruise ship sinking just off the coast of Santorini. Luckily, the kids were unharmed. I just keep thinking about how much band fruit you would have to sell to bring that price down. When it comes to field trips etc., it’s hard to draw a line that says “This is too much.” Is it $1000, $2000? Don’t know. But $2700? Yep.

We had an obituary today for a man named Anthony Washington, known as Ankie. He was one of the crew at Murphy’s Lunch, a downtown institution and a good place to eat. Many folks like to go there on Tuesday and Thursday, when it is fried chicken day. Me, I like Friday, when they have fish. Their Mac and cheese is among the best I’ve had. The Murphy’s crew is a good group of people. Friendly. Quick to forgive if you change your mind halfway through an order and decide you want pintos instead of greenbeans.

I got a good chuckle today reading the Food section. One of my favorite things in there is the Recipe Swap, which appears on Wednesday on the second page .. The recipes are always for these dishes that seem to be from another era and run counter to our Atkins-loving, carb-hating, fat-loathing way of life. Maybe they appeal to who we really are. My type of food.

But I digress.

Today’s swap was for Tamale Pie. I like a good Tamale Pie, and I always assumed that cornbread or tortillas or something of that ilk was an essential ingredient. But I was wrong. One of the recipes called for Chef Boy-ar-dee spaghetti, which just may be as crazy as it is delicious.

My other chuckle was in the story about the battle between police and club owners about how often police get called to these establishments. One of the places with a reasonably high call count is the Piedmont Club. I’ve been there a few times, and I’ve seen the occasional person double-dipping a shrimp cocktail. But that said, you wonder what sort of possible high crimes and misdemeanors are going on there.

This is a letter we received the other day:

“Would you please explain to me and 50,000 other people, why you keep having articles in the paper about Darryl Hunt. That case and situation has been a done deal for ever so long. You people need to get on to other news.”

My guess is that this writer isn’t the only person with that sentiment. We do write a lot about the Hunt case. Here’s why:

1) It’s an important case that speaks to larger issues of justice and fairness.
2) It has had important public-policy and political implications in this town that still exist to this day. For example, and this is a bit of an oversimplification, DA Don Tisdale prosecuted Hunt, and was punished in the Democratic primary with a loss to Warren Sparrow, who was subsequently defeated by current DA Tom Keith. And if you read the city’s Skyes report, it’s a blueprint for how to make things better.
3) The newspaper has a special role in this case. Deborah Sykes worked at our sister paper, and the Journal’s coverage is a key factor in the resolution of the investigation.

Sometimes it reads like overkill. From my standpoint, it’s like this: If we don’t cover these issues, nobody else will. I hear some of you saying, “That would be great.” It’s not. Ignoring problems rarely makes them go away. Things don’t get better by just wishing them to be so.

What’s for breakfast? One of our reporters was down in St. Petersburg, Fla., a week or so ago at a training session and she brought back a copy of the St. Pete Times, where I used to work. They had a feature story about a place called Skyway Jack’s. It’s a great read. There are a lot of good breakfast places in the world, including several right here in W-S (IHOP, the Lighthouse, Omega House to name but a few), but Skyway Jack’s is in a league of its own. It’s in South St. Pete, not too far from the bridges. If you’re ever down there, check it out.

If there’s any one area where newspapers look with longing at electronic media, it’s the weather. It’s hard to stay ahead of it. We can say what happened. We can say what might happen, but it’s the rare storm in these parts that allows us to write that it is indeed happening as it happens (That’s because most of our winter storms have the annoying habit of starting in the early morning.).

But we talk about the weather and we still write about the weather and figure out ways to explain the weather in ways that make sense.

Which brings us to today’s post. At our afternoon budget meeting the other day, one of our page designers, Steve Mann, was talking about how a bad storm was coming in. When we asked him how he knew, he said that his pot-bellied pig was making a deep nest in her barn near Stokesdale. Like many animals, she is much more accutely attuned to the weather than us humans. Miss Piggy is apparently incredibly accurate in predicting the weather, much better than the aches in my joints. Not sure if she will become the Journal weather icon, but we’ll see what we can do.

On another pig-related note, some of you may remember me writing many months ago about a BBQ joint called Allen & Sons near Hillsborough. They were written up in the LA Times today. Good piece. Good BBQ.