On Sunday, the News-Herald will publish a huge, 64-page special section called, "How To." It's loaded with articles on how to choose a hospital, realtor, pediatrician, funeral home, etc. I appreciate the hard work of everyone here at the paper in getting it produced and the support of our advertisers. Hope you enjoy it…

..Looks like someone's doing some gang voting. We've had a poll running on the site for a couple weeks now about whether Suffolk taxpayers should subsidize the operation of the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts, a private venture. The vote had been close to 2-1 against. Two days ago, someone in the local arts community called the newsroom. Apparently they had heard about the poll and wanted to know about it. Within 24 hours the vote tally had changed to about even. There have been more than 500 votes so far…

…With that in mind, our Web site is getting a lot of use. Usage has more than doubled since we redesigned the site in March. Next week we will be paying visits on local businesses with a great opportunity to advertise. If you are interested in setting up an appointment, call someone in our ad department: Earl Jones at 934-9607, Sue Barnes at 934-9602; Mike Curbelo at 934-9606; or Maureen Riley at 934-9602. They will be happy to book an appointment for you. Those who sign on next week will receive a discount…

I see the house passed another flag desecration amendment last night.

The house never ceases to amaze me. With billions in debt, oil prices soaring and the dollar in decline, the economy's on the brink of collapse, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are going poorly to put it mildly, and our representatives have nothing better to do than try to further erode our liberties.

Yes, flag desecration is an awful thing and any sleaze ball that would do it likely deserves whatever he gets, but free speech is such a wonderful thing, and this is not something that is even a problem. I'm 43 years old and have never in my life seen anyone intentionally desecrate the American flag, except of course people who slap it on the bumper of their pickup trucks alongside bumper stickers of a little guy whizzing on Jeff Gordon's race car. I hope the bill includes something that as desecration…