I know someone who was going to be in a certain city in the Midwest this week.

I requested that she pick up a copy of that city's daily newspaper and bring it back to Spokane. I  thought it would be nice to pass it along to one of my colleagues who grew up there.

Deciding to get credit in advance, I told the SR reporter about my plan. He thanked me and mentioned that the family-owned Midwest paper in question -- which enjoys a decent reputation for its journalism -- features a quirk that must embarrass the hell out of the newsroom staff.

Apparently the publisher there likes seeing pictures of himself and his significantly younger wife in the paper. So, according to my colleague's mother, that happens with alarming regularity. (It has to be at the publisher's behest...no other explanation makes sense -- not even off-the-chart brown-nosing.)

Anyway, the reporter and I agreed that, say what you will about the SR, at least that's not one of our problems.

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