You Forgot Grande Prairie, Alberta!

Another well-written article from the Waterbury Republican-American:

"An Eagle to the Rescue"

By Rick Harrison

WOODBURY - To get from Woodbury to Kodiak, Alaska, by car would take nearly four days of straight driving. The 4,793 miles run past Scranton, Youngstown, Chicago, Fargo, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, and Anchorage.

Nonnewaug High School senior Joe Amabile[,] Jr.[,] won't be traveling to Kodiak by car this summer, but his route there has been both long and direct.

Amabile, a 17-year-old Woodbury resident, will train in Kodiak to become a

U.S. Coast Guard helicopter rescue swimmer.

What a terrible lead. Since when does searching on Google maps substitute for actually thinking of a decent way to begin an article?

And yes, I just checked -- that's the exact mileage and route offered by Google maps. How many readers are actually going to make it past that first paragraph? Congratulations and good luck to Mr. Amabile, but I'm not sure that Rick Harrison's fantasy four-day Google-inspired road trip is the best analogy for what he has accomplished.

"Barack Obama Elected President"

By Me

WASHINGTON - To get from Honolulu to Washington, D.C., takes 16 days of straight driving and kayaking. The 5,566 miles run past the Pacific Ocean, Amarillo, Terre Haute, and Lexington.

Newly elected President Barack Obama won't be traveling to Washington by kayak, but his route there has been both long and direct...

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't trust Google's directions for getting from Hawaii to Washington. From Google maps: