When I moved to Spokane after living most of my life in the New York, Denver and Bay areas I was concerned about newspaper coverage. I was especially concerned about international reporting and analysis, in part because my careers had involved many years living, teaching and doing government work overseas.

But I want to thank the publisher and editorial staff for day after day publishing a paper that presents a real balance of news and opinion. This reader, anyway, looks forward to opening it up – especially the Wednesday and Friday editions – and finding that just as, for example, I start burning up at Michael Ramirez’s latest cartoon distortion, I am treated to its opposing ideological number further down the page.

Also, the balance the paper achieves between reporting Idaho’s and Washington state’s politics is really helpful when a newcomer is trying to learn more about local, county and state politics.

Jay Gurian

Spokane