BY JOHN H. WALKER
L’Observateur

On Thursday, I purged several hundred comments from our website — must to the consternation of those who had ranted and raved about any and everything.

The only problem is they are upset over nothing … they just need something to be upset about.

One of the comments, which was not uploaded, read: “If you don’t like the comments or the comments don’t agree with your views, they will be rejected; saying people have a right to express their opinion while controlling which ones are made public is rather hypocritical; don’t you think? Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to agree with your opinion.”

I don’t care if you agree or disagree with my opinion or anyone else’s … but what is added to the discussion when someone posts a comment about a gospel singer in Atlanta beating their spouse on a story written about a local issue?

The comments feature is designed to create local discussion about local issues.

What value is gained by the use of obscene language and name-calling? You can keep it clean and call someone incompetent instead of some expletive-deleted phrase.

These forums are still here and they are still available for your use … they are simply going to be monitored, maintained and the rules and guidelines followed.

I don’t care if you want to bash an elected official in regards to a specific story or not, because I certainly will if needed — just ask the Bogalusa city administration, Washington Parish Council and former Washington Parish President Toye Taylor — but stay on-topic.

Now that the mass has been cleared, I am reading them one by one and referencing them to the stories to which they were posted. If they are relevant, they will be posted again … if not, hi-ho, hi-ho, in the trash they go.

And to “Feeling Targeted,” thanks for the explanation … call and give me directions and I’ll come visit and we can talk about issues.

Beginning next week, at least five newspapers owned by Wick Communications will begun running free ads for persons who are looking for jobs.

L’Observateur, The Daily News in Bogalusa, St. Tammany News in Covington and Slidell and The Frontiersman and Press in Wasilla and Anchorage, Alaska have all agreed to see what we can do to help folks who have either lost their jobs or had their hours reduced because of the economic situation.

This is not for those persons who are self-employed and simply looking for more work.

Times are tough and may get tougher, but if we think about it there are things we can all do to make a difference and help our fellow man during these difficult times.

If you know someone out of work, please let them know about the free ads.

(John H. Walker is editor and publisher of L’Observateur and can be reached at 652-9545 or john.walker@wickcommunications.com.)