It's my second day in the editor's chair here at the Banner Graphic, and I've already been dealt a quasi-controversial story, which is set to run in the Wednesday, April 30 edition.

I've been in this business a long time ... I should have known better than to start a couple days before an election. Rookie mistake..

The line between news and political mud-slinging is sometimes very, very fine. The fact of the matter is, things that are not election-related can seem like pot shots if they involve a candidate. People with axes to grind against those candidates will often grab on to some insignificant thing and make sure everyone in town knows about it. And we all know, as REO Speedwagon once sang, that the tales grow taller on down the line.

The only advice I have to give going into this up coming primary is, remember that things aren't always what they seem, and that if they are, they're rarely as bad as people make them out to be. Trust your instincts.

They're rarely wrong.