Like a sore thumb

Sporadically, you could hear groans emanating from various spots in the newsroom this morning, signaling that another person had noticed the unfortunate misspelling in today’s lead headline ( Schrock deaths draw charges ). For those who don’t get the print edition, “Schrock” was spelled “Shrock” in great big bold type for all to see.

Evidence of how easy it can be to make this kind of mistake is that most people in the newsroom didn’t actually notice the error until it was pointed out (I read over it at least three times before it dawned on me). Also, we haven’t heard any complaints from readers.

But that’s not an excuse - undoubtedly, many of our readers in the Chewelah area did notice.

Assistant city editor David Wasson noted that this isn’t the first time name spelling has been an issue in this story. Wasson said that police reports, including the one posted on our Web site today, routinely misspell the names of the children killed in the crash. The spellings that we used in today’s story are correct, having been confirmed by reporters consulting the Pine Grove church directory and interviewing family members. This is not to distract from the headline issue, but to provide clarification for anyone who may have noticed the discrepancy.