Information desk
When you work at a newspaper, people expect you to know stuff. We encourage that sort of thinking, so we do our best to answer questions, even though sometimes the questions don't have much to do with what's going on in the community. Google, Wikipedia and the phone book come in handy for those sorts of thing. Some callers want to know phone numbers (we do exactly what that person who looked up our number to call us had just done). Some want to know the results or schedule of college or professional sporting events. We even get calls for the phase of the moon.
Movin' and shakin'
Judges get it. Clerks get it. Spend long enough in court and you might get it too. Attorneys file many motions - motion to dismiss, motion for a new trial, motion for a directed verdict... - throughout the lifetime of a case. Those who have to deal with them, and probably the attorneys themselves likely fail to enjoy them at some point. Overheard in Warren County courthouse recently... "I get motion sickness."
Afterthinking
That poor weasel. Insult on top of public injury. The poor thing got fried by the electrical system at Warren Area High School. Then, someone pointed out its demise in the newspaper. But, worst of all, the weasel, a perfectly respectable carnivore (order: Carnivora) was denigrated as a rodent. We apologize for the smear and for our lack of knowledge of zoological nomenclature. The error was variously pointed out by our devoted readers.
What estate?
The press is historically referred to as the Fourth Estate, as one of Warren County's commissioners will be glad to explain. The first three (according to French history) are the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners. After fielding the questions from the Fourth Estate at a recent meeting, one representative of that estate suggested he was also a member of the Third. The commissioner had used a less neutral term (peasants) in this explanation of the Third. Another commissioner said the reporter should take that up with his employer. Thanks, but no matter how much said employer appreciates his work, he is unlikely to rise to the power, wealth and influence held by the French clergy and nobility of the Middle Ages.
Let them eat
their cake
Who says you can't have your cake and eat it, too? That theory was trumped up during an education committee meeting when a few guest speakers offered cake to celebrate some recognition to their middle school. But before anyone could dig in, work had to get done. "Then we will all have some cake," a committee member said. Maybe all meetings should conclude with a hefty slice of pure bliss with vanilla frosting. When the meeting was adjourned, a committee member astutley noted that "the next meeting will start up after cake"
Understatement of the year
Any project, small or large, can be helped with a little extra money. That was certainly the case during a committee meeting when an architect working on design specifications joked, "If you would only give me more money." The architect was referring to designing a state-of-the-art facility. Everyone in attendance (and quite possibly the world) agreed, more money is always better.