FEEDBACK
Where did she go?
Dave, Denbigh: I have a question for you to investigate. Last night on Channel 43, the WAVY news team was signing off at 7:30 p.m., and Ashley Baylor, who was their substitute meteorologist, announced she was leaving the station. I didn’t catch the story. She must have told the other news anchors there what she was doing, where she was going — I know she’s had a baby. But I’m curious to know where she’s going.
Editor: Reporter Mike Holtzclaw reached out to her, and here is her response: “New England is my home and I miss it, so when this opportunity came up in Connecticut, I took it. I’m staying within our company, just transferring to a different station. WTNH is a great station in the Hartford market — I already have family and friends up there so I’m looking forward to it. Not to mention, it’s a lot closer to my husband’s base, so he won’t have to make the dreaded nine-hour drive up there every month for drill. I will be keeping my Facebook and Twitter pages, so everyone in HRVA can keep up with what’s going on with me.”
A question of why?
Why on earth would Dominion Energy buy out a South Carolina utility drowning in debt with the nuclear construction abandoned? Can DP reporters explain? Thanks! We rely on DP for thoughtful and relentless investigation.
Editor: I took your question to reporter Dave Ress, and here’s what he said: “We probably need to do some more reporting to really understand, but what’s striking here is that Dominion is acquiring a company that has a monopoly on delivering electricity and natural gas to 1.6 million customers. It’s a business, and it is probably significant that in announcing the deal, Dominion CEO Tom Farrell emphasized the geographic close fit of Dominion’s gas transmission business in North Carolina, as well as its plans for the Atlantic coast pipeline, its electric utility. It may also be significant that Dominion has made a successful business of taking over other companies’ faltering nuclear plants.
About the shutdown
I wanted to compliment your coverage of the effects of this government shutdown on local people who work for these agencies. In today’s paper, I don’t see any reference to NASA. It’s a significant agency in this area. This subject bears continuing coverage. Keep up the good work.
Editor: Thanks for sharing your thoughts. As you probably saw, today’s front-page story addresses the NASA Langley angle. We’re going to cover different aspects of the shutdown as it continues. Keep reading and feel free to suggest topics I can pass along to the news team.
Stocks listings
Robert: I have a request/suggestion to be included in business section. 30 Dow Jones industrial stocks used to be listed on a regular basis. Please put them back into the paper.
Editor: We switched providers for that information, and unfortunately are no longer able to include that same listing in our daily roundup. Most of those 30 stocks do appear elsewhere in other listings on the page. However, we realize they don’t always all get in every day, as the other listings (for most active stocks and largest companies) are dynamic, varying from day to day.
Missing the best-sellers
Warren: The bestseller list has been missing from the paper the last two Sundays. What happened?
Editor: There were notes included on the page for the missing best-sellers list during those days. We couldn’t get it because the wire service didn’t get it in time for our early deadlines during the holidays, but it’s returned this week.
Crossword puzzle change
Ron: Well, seems the DP has done it again — a crossword puzzle vendor change. What was wrong with the Timothy E. Parker standard; i.e. solvable? The new ones are terrible. Sunday two weeks ago I thought it was due to your cyber-attack. Let’s go back to Timothy E. Parker. These are ridiculous!
David: Please bring back Timothy Parker’s crosswords puzzles. They are the best, most challenging I have seen and the highlight of my daily routine. Why did they go away?
Editor: We have not changed vendors. It’s a decision by the syndicate, not ours. Here’s what was shared with us: “David Steinberg is the new editor of ‘Universal Crossword Weekly’ and has replaced former editor Tim Parker, who is no longer associated with this crossword. David Steinberg published his first crossword puzzle in The New York Times when he was just 14 years old, making him the second-youngest constructor to be published under Will Shortz’s editorship. At the age of 15, David became the crossword editor of the Orange County Register’s 24 affiliated newspapers. To date, David has had hundreds of puzzles published in the Times and other markets (Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Daily Celebrity Crossword, The Crosswords Club, The American Values Club Crossword, BuzzFeed and The Jerusalem Post) …”