News Roundup Round #2

by: Rosi Efthim

Sun Feb 28, 2010 at 04:45:39 PM EST

It takes about 2 hours to write a Blue Jersey News Roundup. Longer on weekends, because of the Op-Ed pages. But after I post Sunday's, with the heavy paper version of Star Ledger spread out on the table at The Shaker Cafe in Flemington, next to my blueberry pancakes, I always find things I don't see in the electronic versions. Including stuff that's not on line.

So no links. This is from the crunchy paper version. Stuff I'm reading today:

Teacher of the Year: Merit pay is the wrong way - Maryann Woods-Murphy, judged the very best in New Jersey this year, is against forcing teachers into competing with each other, instead of supporting each others work. And she resents S-L columnist Kevin Manahan calling some of her colleagues "lazy, unprepared, and uninspiring slug(s)."

On race, power, culture and tea - Miami Heral columnist Leonard Pitts, in a piece run in S-L examines a recent commentary from Keith Olbermann on the inherent racism infecting tea party activists. He's not writing about New Jersey specifically, but he might as well be. After all, New Jersey's tea party has given their endorsement to Michael Halfacre, hoping that the Fair Haven mayor, who led a teaparty rally during Rush Holt's summer health care town hall, will now get the GOP nomination to run against him in November.

Obit, Robert C. Hare, 95, former Passaic mayor - The man for whom the city's City Hall was named in a ceremony in 2005.

AP, Democrats ready to go it alone on health care - Again, not New Jersey, but of interest given that Rep. Rob Andrews was a player in the president's bi-partisan meeting. (also wire service, just below it on the page, the how-it-works of reconciliation).

When we see problems in how NJ's newspapers are covering the news, it's not like we'd ever just shut up about it. But there's depth, analysis, and good writing to be found in newsprint in (almost) every corner of the state. And for just pennies. You can't help drive journalism to be better, or the newspaper industry to perform better, if you're not a participant. K'thanks, gotta go wash ink off my fingers now.