Columbia sidewalks

The Missourian's cover feature for the day was a piece that they've been wanting to run for a while. It is about Propositions 4 and 5, and whether they would provide funding for sidewalks to schools. The piece focuses mainly on the schoolchildren aspect of the story, which is logical, since that is probably the most human part of the propositions. It talks about the "walking school bus" programs that apparently are going on around Columbia, and how the sidewalks would affect them. The writer gave good coverage to both sides of the story, fulling explaining why people were opposed to the propositions. I did think the writer digressed a bit after the story went to page 4, when he was discussing PedNet. PedNet is undoubtedly important to the story, but the focus probably should have been on TARRIF by then. The quote from a school principal saying that lack of sidewalks leading to her school are a problem would have fitted better at the beginning of the story. Speaking of the beginning of the story, I enjoyed the lede very much. It was very human, and gave a lot of emotion to the story. In some ways, I think it gave too much emotion, and the lede persuaded the reader to side with those who supported the propositions. I still think it fit, though. The thing that jumped out at me in the lede was the writer's use of the word "fix." This is a purely linguistic observation, but he used in the context of parents preparing lunch for their kids. I found this very interesting. I think "fix" in that sense is a very regional word. I don't think you'd hear someone in, say, New York, tell you he was fixing dinner for his family.