It’s time for another visit from the readers’ answer man.
Dear reader advocate: I just wanted to say how disappointed I am with your Web site. Jacksonville is a military city with two bases here. Why is there not a military section on this site or in the newspaper? It would probably help a lot of Navy wives feel a little bit of comfort if they could track where their loved ones are when they are on a six-month deployment. Why don’t you take a lesson from the newspaper in Norfolk, Va. (www.pilotonline.com). — C.R.
Dear C.R.: That’s a good suggestion, which I have shared with the editors of our newspaper and our award-winning Web site. The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk includes military news, a ship finder, message boards, special reports, links to military Web sites, military events and other related information.
The San Diego Union-Tribune also has a useful military section of its Web site (www.uniontrib.com/news/military/index.html).
Dear reader advocate: This is the third time in recent memory that Doonesbury’s creator has “taken time off,” yet he is still working for the Tallahassee Democrat. It’s curiouser and curiouser. — J.M.
Dear J.M.: When Garry Trudeau takes a vacation, he submits reruns. Some newspapers continue to run Doonesbury, especially if it is run on the comics pages. In the case of the Times-Union, editors decided not to use reruns, since this gives additional space for opinion columns. When Trudeau resumes original strips, they are used. Other comic strip artists provide enough original strips during a vacation.
Dear reader advocate: We’re moving. My husband is throwing out editorial pages, including cartoons for many years that he saved. How far back can you access the editorial pages on the Internet? — J.J..
Dear J.J.: The Times-Union started archiving local material on its Web site (www.jacksonville.com) in April of 1997. So you should be able to find most editorials and many letters from readers there. Syndicated columns, which the Times-Union does not own, are not on the Web site. However, if you know the date, you can find the Times-Union on microfilm at the Main Library downtown. However, there aren’t indexes of past Times-Union articles, so if you don’t know the date of a story, it can be difficult finding it.
You can find obituaries on the Times-Union’s Web site starting in 1997, but remember that these are paid items, so not everyone who dies has one.
Slap-hand-to-forehead moment
On a recent Saturday, the Metro page included a list of three events happening that day. Why don’t we do that every Saturday and Sunday? Give the readers a list of things to do that day. Otherwise, we make readers refer to Friday’s paper or some other previous day. It’s an obvious example of a good reader service.
Derek Trucks was really gifted
Last Wednesday’s feature on young guitarist Derek Trucks mentioned the public schools he attended, but skipped his year at George Washington Carver Sixth Grade Center, said the school’s principal at the time, Doretha Bodison. She recalls him well as a student in the gifted program.
