Let's Talk About Something Besides Your Face

The combination of miles of paper, a paid subscriber base, buckets of ink, and high-speed presses combine to breed a special kind of egotism in newsmen and women. It’s an egotism that's too often expressed upon peering into the mirror one morning and thinking, “Wow! That’s a good subject for a column!”

Sun-Herald columnist Steve Baumann is the latest at the Daily Excuse to succumb to the temptation of imagining his readers will better understand their little town if they first read a history of his mustache and sideburns.

Give him credit: he doesn't hide his topic: "Let's talk about my face."
No, Steve. Let's not. Next time you are looking for a subject, try one of these:

• We in Arcadia need to know what’s up with the rural transportation initiative.
  
• We need to know if the local high school’s drop out numbers are down or up.
  
• How about telling us how the state-level budget cuts will affect local school resources?
  
• We need to know what the property appraiser is doing to assessed home values in a time of falling market prices.
  
• We need to know if a proposed 25-acre animal drop-off facility is everything its promoters say it is – and what county permits have been issued.
  
• We need to know why DeSoto County commissioners refuse to institute a can-and-glass recycling program (or create an inter-local agreement so Arcadians can use Charlotte County’s drop-off facility).
  
• We need to know if the teen pregnancy rate is still the highest in the state and what initiatives are taken to keep young women in school.
  
• We need to know the outcome of the investigation into the policeman who shot a citrus worker during a traffic stop.
  
• Whatever happened to those eight high-powered rifles stolen from the local pawn shop?
  
• What are the jail conditions that were evaluated by the feds last month?

There is so much more ... taxpayers, families, and job holders in Arcadia need to know. And, Steve, your goatee is not on the list. <