Like a person, a web site must take a day every now and then to establish its procedures, clarify some confusions, and take note of new information which might confirm (or refute) earlier statements.

This is one of those days.

Last week the News Guy gratefully received a generous donation from an out-of-state political advocacy organization.

And reluctantly returned it.

The alternative was to keep it, but then, when dealing with the subject of this particular group’s interest, insert a parenthetical, “full disclosure” statement.

Nah! That’s no good, and not only because it’s awkward. You either take the money or you don’t.

The News Guy does not. At least not from: elected officials; senior appointed officials (as in, direct appointees of the governor); anyone running for office now (donations from former candidates gladly accepted, even those pondering another run sometimes in the future); political parties; interest groups.

As for individuals who work for political parties and interest groups, let’s use common sense. On the one hand, the News Guy is not about to research every contributor to see where he or she is employed. But then, he doesn’t have to do that with the chairs of Vermont’s three political parties. They should not donate.

If you do not fall into one of those categories, however, and have not sent a donation, you are encouraged to do so. Simply look under “Pages” (in the top right quarter of the page), click “donate,” and contribute as little (or, better yet, as much) as you wish. More revenue does not enrich the News Guy as much as it makes it possible to cover more stories, better.

If and when the site seeks advertisements, ads from any legal entity will be accepted: candidates, causes, defense contractors, tobacco companies, subversive organizations, escaped convicts. Whatever.

Two big differences between donations and advertisements. First, the ads are out there in plain site for all the world to see. Second, the revenue from each one is infinitesimal. In fact, the revenue is zero unless someone clicks on the ad. In that case the revenue is pennies. The News Guy can be bought, because anyone can be bought. But not for pennies.

Similarly, though it doesn’t really do any harm, all Facebook “Friends” (the quotation marks are needed because most of these “friends” remain complete strangers) might save their energies by not inviting the News Guy to be a “fan” or otherwise support (or attend the event of) a political cause, or for that matter a commercial enterprise.

Reporters are not fans, at least not of anything but sports teams, musicians, and actors. Yes, technically, the Facebook page under discussion here is personal, but it is effectively the News Guy web site’s page. As such, there is no point in urging him to become a friend of any business, or a fan of “Let’s Close Vermont Yankee,” VPIRG, the Champlain Housing Trust, “Fight Animal Cruelty.” Or Radio Free Vermont.

Since the December 28 post, “Population Balm” two pieces of information have generally confirmed the point of that post that Vermont’s stable population is a result of who Vermonters are rather than what they, or their state government, does.

One was a new Census Bureau report showing that Vermont was one of several states in which there were fewer young people (under 18) last year than in 2000.

Then there was a report by the Southern Education Fund revealing that a majority of students in public schools in the Southern states were both low-income and minority.

Not, the report said, because of the “white flight” of earlier decades, or because so many whites go to private schools; the South has the smallest percentage of private school students in the country. Instead, black, Hispanic, American Indian and others now comprise more than 50 percent of the Southern public school students partly because of increased Hispanic immigration. But also, according to the report, “Higher rates of birth among the South’s Hispanic and African American populations in recent years explain a significant part of the increase in school enrollment.”

The report does not quite say that whites, and especially affluent, educated, whites, are simply not having as many children as other groups, or as many as they used to. But it suggests that conclusion, which is also found worldwide in other population statistics.

It is one reason Vermont’s under-18 population has declined by 14 percent, faster than any other state’s, though the decline in Maine, Michigan, and North Dakota was also ten percent or higher.

Michigan, which is losing total population, is a special case these days because of the decline of the auto industry. Maine is almost as white as Vermont, but North Dakota is not, and neither is as affluent nor as well-educated.

Whether the drop in the under-18 population is a problem or an opportunity, it is undoubtedly a factor. It’s happening, and therefore should be discussed in connection with whether state policy can, or should, try to: (a) reverse: or (b) encourage and exploit the trend.

And finally today, reluctant though the News Guy is to pick on the poor, pitiful, Burlington Free Press yet again, a blunder in Saturday’s paper can not go unremarked. In a straightforward story with no byline, the Freeps informed us all that the speaker at Burlington’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. remembrance next Sunday would be law Professor Anita Hill, who “earned notoriety during the 1991 confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.”

Not exactly wrong. At the time, Hill earned notoriety – that is: infamy, dishonor, ill repute – because at the time most people didn’t believe her allegations of misconduct against Thomas. Later, thanks to new information that backed up her contentions, public opinion turned more in her favor.

But the point here is not to relive the squabbles of 1991. The problem is that like many people these days, the writers and editors at the Free Press seem to think that “notoriety” means “fame.”

Minimally defensible. “Known widely” is the start of the Dictionary definition of “notorious,” but the words immediately following are “and usually unfavorably.”

A great language, English, because it allows nuance and precision. One of the great examples is the distinction among “fame,” “celebrity,” and “notoriety.” Newspapers oughtn’t muck them up.

It’s the end of another week-the second of this news site-so we will pause for some more housekeeping, as well as announcements and some odds and ends.

First, let me apologize to those readers who saw nothing but a title and a blank space when they clicked on the site Wednesday and Thursday mornings.

Using a new (for me) way of pasting the posts into the site, I skipped one step in the process. Thanks to the courtesy and knowledge of the folks at Northeast Kingdom Information Associates in downtown metropolitan Glover, that shouldn’t happen again.

But if it-or anything like it-does, don’t hesitate to let me know. A few readers did, and I’m grateful to them.

Thanks also to the reader who asked an actual news question: what happens with the almost $450,000 the state just got as its share of a settlement with toymakers Mattel and Fisher-Price, who were putting too much lead in the casings of some toys.

The money is in the General Fund. Sometimes, said Assistant Attorney General Elliot Burg, who handled Vermont’s share of the case, settlement money goes back to consumers.

“When people scammed by a fraudulent paver or lost money to a telemarketer, the settlements will say everybody gets a refund,” Burg said. “But here it’s impossible to tell who the buyers of the products were.”

So the money’s in the state’s kitty, easing, if minimally, Vermont’s budget crunch.

But Burg said the Attorney General’s office sues “to enforce the law,” not to bring in revenue.

“My office has been very clear that the attorneys here are not to be paying any attention to that,” he said, the “that” being the state’s fiscal problems.

Keep such questions coming. In fact, why not treat this site as your own personal reporter? Have a question about what’s going on in Vermont only Ask it. Answers not guaranteed, but likely.

As all my new Facebook “friends” have probably figured out, I have dropped my qualms and decided to accept the friend status of all who propose it. A little strange, having friends you never heard of because they are friends of other friends you never heard of. But it seems to be the new world. Eventually I will get around to putting my own face and more on Facebook. You “friends” may regret it.

So far as I can see, I made no mistakes this week. At least nobody pointed any out. A couple of people did object to a few things I said, which is fine, and two readers got into a squabble among themselves over something I didn’t even say at all.

That’s fine, too.

Next week there will be at least one major report, on a matter intricate and important enough to require lots of words. The conventional wisdom in the on-line journalism world is that readers got glassy-eyed, or sleepy, or maybe just bored if any one article goes much over a thousand words.

So this report will probably be stretched over two days, maybe even three. Unless  some major development requiring immediate exploration surprises us all over the weekend, the report will start on Monday.

And what will it be about?

Oh, let’s maintain the suspense. But it’s a major Vermont institution with a head and claws.

We come today to the end of the first week of this site, and it is time for a few housekeeping notes.

First of all, I’m aware that I have to spice things up, visually speaking. Over the next few days I will figure out how to insert pictures (and one day—who knows?—video). I’m also in the process of figuring out how to arrange links so that if I refer to, say, a newspaper story or a government report, readers will be able to click right on the text and—Presto! There it will be.

That way you won’t have to take my word for anything.

Now, as to all you nice people who want to be my Facebook friend:

I’m not ignoring you. I’m working on it. First of all I’m working on finding out the point of Facebook (and Twitter, too) especially in regard to “friends” one does not know. One of the first things Facebook asked me about after I registered had to do with my sex life.

That is not the subject of Vermont NewsGuy.

Do not misunderstand. I am no Luddite. Or, perhaps more accurately, I am a flexible Luddite who is willing to ease his Ludditery, or fogeyism as it is sometimes known. I am taking the whole issue under advisement.

Generally speaking, unless there has been a major development on Thursday, Friday will be the day for correcting errors. Writing without an editor is like walking the high wire without a net. Mistakes will happen. One that happened this week was that I called the top of the front page of a newspaper—up there where the name of the paper is in big letters, often in fancy type—“the masthead.”

As if I had not worked for newspapers since roughly the Grover Cleveland administration.

Fortunately, a friend who had worked for newspaper since roughly the Millard Fillmore administration reminded me that the top of the front page is “the flag.” The masthead is inside and has the names of the top editors and other pooh-bahs.

You need not be an old friend to correct factual errors here. Feel free.

And one sin of omission: In discussing news coverage of government and politics I should have noted that 7Days–first with Peter Freyne and now Shay Totten–has covered both with energy and insight for years. But of course 7Days is a weekly, not a daily, and it has what might be called a niche audience, limiting its impact.

Semi-finally, if you think this site is worthwhile, you re invited to donate. The Pay Pal lamp is now lit. Thanks to those who have given, a few quite generously.

And really finally…..DON’T FAIL TO TUNE IN MONDAY FOR….

SCANDAL IN MONTPELIER
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Jon Margolis