Why It's Never a Good Idea to Lay Off Copy Editors

Copy editors do more than fix erratic spelling and grammar. Their expertise goes deeper than redirecting a columnist's fondness for substandard usage, clichés and stupid allusions. They do more than query strange things in the copy and double check how names are spelled. Nevertheless, those basics are the core of an important, behind-the-scenes job. It’s a shame DeSoto Sun publishers don't employ one.

[...] six pubescent young people, overseen by grownups who barely managed that right of passage ...
“Evita” [is a play by] Andrew Lloyd Weber ...
[...] my interest was peaked.
[...] awarded the first Do the Right Thing award ...
We kinda get along like the two main characters on TV’s “Boston Legal” ...
The literary club opened its meeting with a quote from Virginia Woolfe.
[...] jars of Cocoa Plum jelly ...
[...] students were encouraged to participate by submitting potential entries ...
There will be story time and crafts on each of the above days.
[...] according to the county’s clerk of the court office.
. The consensus is Florida citrus growers dodged a bullet Wednesday night, but experts say some other crops may not have escaped unscathed, and only time will tell the true extent of the damage.
. It seems that the clinic's contractor was given an long-outdated map that didn't reflect the fact that the nearest tap was now buried under pavement.
. The groundbreaking vaccine that prevents cervical cancer in girls is gaining a reputation as the most painful of childhood shots, health experts say. As Austin Powers would say, “Ouch, baby. Very Ouch.”
. Livingston told the DeSoto County Sheriff's Office an irate Diaz started yelling at her and Hutchinson, but they could not understand what he was saying -- then went to his truck and came back with a pistol.

And, it leaves paginators to write headlines ...

Community clinic grapples with the 'M word' By Bob Fliss

St. Vincent de Paul Community Health Care may be open by the end of next week.

The nonprofit clinic and pharmacy needs utility service and inspections to open a modular building at the Charlotte County Family Service Center campus at 21450 Gibralter Drive, Port Charlotte.

The lights may be on by today, said Paul Ringenberger, chief executive officer. But the water connection "is becoming one of those little glitches you have to deal with in these situations," he added. It seems that the clinic's contractor was given an long-outdated map that didn't reflect the fact that the nearest tap was now buried under pavement.

The pharmacy is vacating leased offices at 1282 Market Circle, Port Charlotte. Although its dispensary will be co-located with the clinic, the administrative offices will now move to 24730 Sandhill Blvd., Unit 903, Port Charlotte. The telephone number will remain 941-766-9570.

After the water is connected at the modular building, it will be time to call the county for a certificate of occupancy, Ringenberger said. A state health inspector will also need to issue a permit. The clinic and pharmacy will then immediately open to serve Charlotte County's needy and uninsured.

For now, the pharmacy is closed for relocation. Volunteers worked through the weekend shifting furniture and inventory, Ringenberger said.

Clients had been advised to refill their prescriptions in anticipation of the move. "We tried to call as many people as we could ... and if a real emergency came up while we are moving, we could probably arrange some kind of a voucher for medications," Ringenberger said. The pharmacy had seven years of successful operations before the idea of expanding into a full-service clinic was floated early this year. Following a May public meeting, donations and volunteer commitments poured in, which allowed the clinic to break ground in November.

So, which "M word" would that be?