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ELECTION SECTION + ENDORSEMENTS
Under the watchful eye of Managing Editor Kathleen Fitzpatrick, our rejuvenated, rockin’ staff is putting the finishing touches on NCN’s Election Section 2007, a 32-page bonus supplement inserted in the October 31 issue.

In it, you can scour in-depth profiles of 64 — count ‘em — 64 local candidates for elected offices in six towns and villages: Cortlandt, Ossining, Peekskill, Putnam Valley, Somers, and Yorktown.

On the editorial pages (16-17) of our Oct. 31 News section, you will find our endorsements. They are carefully considered conclusions reached after interviews with each candidate by our editorial board, comprised of our reporters and Managing Editor Kathleen Fitzpatrick.

As NCN Publisher and community volunteer who has close involvement with many of the candidates, I recused myself from the candidate interviews and the endorsement process. I will learn of the editorial board’s endorsements only when they are ready to be printed.

NO LONGER DATING OURSELVES
A detail some longtime readers may have noticed is that we finally got rid of the time-warped date format that had been on our folio — eg, Oct. 31-Nov. 6. Newsweeklies like Time and Newsweek don’t date themselves that way because each issue reports on the previous week, not the upcoming week — so the cover date represents news up until that date, not beyond it. Standard-issue newsweeklies also don’t refer in their stories to “yesterday” or “last Monday” because we can’t control on what day a reader is seeing the story, so we also are finally phasing out that bad practice as well, replacing it with actual dates, such as, Monday, Oct. 29. It’s all part of our ongoing efforts to make NCN smarter through the introduction of best practices, both on our pages and in our day-to-day newsroom operation.

ARE YOU A COPY EDITOR? APPLY HERE
North County News is currently interviewing candidates highly qualified for the following job description:North County News is currently interviewing candidates highly qualified for the following job description:

COPY EDITOR. Part-time. Minimum 5 years experience. Northern Westchester community newsweekly seeks expert wordsmith with journalism credentials to edit news and feature stories and proof final pages in fast-paced, deadline-driven workplace. Must have mastery of grammar, sharp eye for detail and highly focused work ethic. Flexible hours. Send resume with cover letter to editor@NCNlocal.com.

HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL IS BACK!
If you have a hankerin’ to write about school life or teen life or almost any topic that strikes your fancy and is of interest to other teens — as well as parents and school personnel — North County News’s High School Confidential is your chance to get published in a prestigious newspaper. For more information, contact editor@NCNlocal.com; or call (914) 962-3871 X410.