"The Top 10 Stories the Media Missed in the Past Year" as published in River Cities' Reader Issue 602 (October 11-17, 2006) might be called "10 more reasons why the ‘freedom of the press' will be abolished."

In January 2005, the results of a survey of students were published in which (only) 51 percent of the students believed that the press should be allowed to publish without permission from the government.

This survey should have awakened the press to the fact that they must inform the people of what is going on in our courts so that they can decide for themselves if our system of justice is fair.

Fright Night

The District of Rock Island

Thursday, October 26

It has always been a nomadic monster, roaming the Quad Cities (usually Rock Island) in search of arts patrons. In recent years, it has squatted at The Villa, the McKesson building, and (most recently) the Rocket Theatre.

Now, in its 13th year, it has taken up temporary residence across the river in Bucktown, and it has also mutated. What was once a single-minded creature - all about selling art - has now evolved into something of an entertainer. To its already formidable arsenal it has added magic and improvisational comedy and a haunted dungeon.

It is, of course, MidCoast Fine Arts' Great Mask Halloween Bash & Fine Art Auction, scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on Saturday, October 21, at the Bucktown Center for the Arts (225 East Second Street in downtown Davenport).

According to The Oxford English Dictionary, "justice" is defined as "maintenance of legal, social, or moral principles by the exercise of authority or power; assignment of deserved reward or punishment," "the quality or fact of being just; (the principle of) just dealing or conduct; integrity; impartiality, fairness," and "conformity (of an action or thing) to moral right or to reason, truth, or fact."

The above definitions are foundational to our democracy. When these principles fail on any level, whether in our national arena, district courts, or local civil-rights commissions, this failure contributes to the overall erosion of our system.