Ends and odds, 2/8/07

Toyota management says they need to control costs better. Manufacturing wages will be based on what's competitive locally, not what's competitive in the industry. Toyota has been making cars in the USA for more than 20 years. I dare say it's starting to have some legacy costs to deal with. You know, pensions and retiree health benefits and that sort of thing.

One of our reporters is working on a story about whether young girls should receive the HPV vaccine. I'm waiting until I read that story before writing an editorial. The Cincinnati Enquirer has already given its opinion.

My favorite lead paragraph on a news story goes, "Every six hours, a person in Huntington is robbed." I want to say, that person had better get out of town or hire an armed guard.

On that same note, we used to run the headline, "Woman critical after wreck" fairly often. I wanted to add, "She wasn't too complimentary before the wreck, either."

And we once had a reporter who started police blotter stories, "A Huntington man had his apartment broken into Monday night." The editor would say, "Why would he do that?"

A French court is hearing a case against a magazine that published some Mohammed cartoons. The magazine may have violated French laws forbidding injury caused by religious slander. Even if we have to share it with the lowest of low-lifes, I am glad the USA has the First Amendment.