Street Jazz

The somber news anchors at KNWA announced to a frantic public this week that missing teenage Brooke Hanna had been located, and was now “safe” at home, revealing once again their fetish for press releases and their view that there may two sides to every story is somehow quaint and rustic.

Donna Hanna, who had taken the girl earlier in the month, was shown being led off in handcuffs, while the plaintive cries of a reporter could be heard, “Donna? Why did you do it?”

Wow. That’s really getting to the source of the story.

Oh, wait, I forgot! All the reporter with the quivering voice (and the authoritative news anchors) ever had to was Google to the story, and they might very well have actually known more from Donna Hanna’s perspective - and from Brooke Hanna’s as well, it might seem.

Florida’s Naples News has put our news outlets up here to shame on this story, as well as offering a chance to readers to weigh in on the story. Here are some perspectives from readers that just haven’t had much - if any - play in local news coverage. And yes, I’ve only pulled two comments, and there are many, many other comments on the site, as well, many pro-Burt Hanna.

So, if I have this straight, the teen testified to a counselor that she was "uncomfortable living with her father, had flashbacks to inappropriate touching and ““is in danger from her father””. So they have returned her to the father?

Am I reading this wrong or is this just more head-shaking news?

And also:

" He said similar claims had been made to child welfare services in Arkansas but that none had been confirmed."

YIKES!!!

He doesn't deny doing it, just says it couldn't be confirmed?

Now that's scary.

www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/apr/23/brooke-hanna-found-millionaire-bonita-springs-mom-/

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Quote of the Day

"Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity.": Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781) German Dramatist

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FOIA: Yes, well, no, not really, dude

From Matthew Petty’s (the Fayetteville alderman constantly referred to as “young”) tabled resolution to the City Council:

WHEREAS, communication and   collaboration with social media is cost-effective; and WHEREAS, the  public nature of social media reduces time spent on FOIA compliance . . .

Well, it’s cost effective if you have someone else doing the drudge work of your personal crusade, Matthew, like the already over-worked office of the City Clerk.

What has raised more than a few eyebrows is his misunderstanding (deliberate?) of the entire FOIA compliance question.  I’ve sent in my fair share of FOIA requests, as have many people I have known over the years, and I’m pretty sure that Twittering wouldn’t have helped me one iota in seeking the information that I required, nor, I suspect, would it have helped a lot of the other folks who have filed them.

A lot of FOIA requests aren’t seeking surface information that is easily available to everyone. We’re looking for what we suspect may be there, or  - oh, whatever. I’m sure I’ll get another  email from a certain alderman, once again calling me a bigot for not embracing Twitterhood to the bosom of my dark soul.

I also suspect that between the Government Channel, the Fayetteville website, posting meetings online, maintaining email exchanges, and the like, the city of Fayetteville is doing a pretty fair job of keeping the public informed.

You know, early in an alderman’s term, being referred to as young can mean, “Hey, this person is full of great new ideas, no matter young they are.”

But after nearly four months in office?

When people still refer to you as young, it often has a less than complimentary ring to it, as if “young” were code for something else.

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Letter of the Day

The very able Abel Tomlinson (you have no idea what great pleasure it gave me to write that!) has an excellent letter in today’s issue of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Teabaggers inconsistent

America just witnessed important nationwide Taxed Enough Already, or TEA, parties. However, many Americans do not know that the organizer for these was former Republican U.S. Rep. Dick Armey and FreedomWorks, his corporate lobbying firm.

TEA parties were aided by millions of dollars' worth of free promotional propaganda from FOX "News." The teabagger rallying cry against taxes, debt and spending exposes mind-numbing inconsistency inherent within Ronald Reagan-forward Republican politics

To read more:

http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Editorial/258253/

rsdrake@nwark.com