On April 13, this was the headline of a Salisbury Post story:  “Ancestor regales the city ‘Old Hickory’ called home.”

I called the newsroom and asked the lady who answered, “Have you read the headlines on page 3A?”

She said, “No but I’ve got the paper right here.” Then she said, “Oh no. We didn’t.”

I said, “Oh yes! You did. Who came up with that? … Maybe you need to call a circle meeting and have a class on dictionary 101.”

Then on May 18 was this headline to another story: “Awards to honor Confederate veterans’ ancestors.”

I called the newsroom again and spoke with the same lady.

“Have you seen the headline in page 5A?” I asked her.

“Yes,” she said, “and we did it again.”

“Is the same person guilty both times?” I asked.

“Yes,” she answered, “I’m afraid so.”

“Didn’t you explain it to them the first time?”

“Oh, yes. But it didn’t do any good. He has a mental block about it.”

As my friend Tommy Wayne’s grandma used to say, “Some excuse is better than none.”

In a June 5 letter to the editor, “Hard times for N.C.,” Marjorie Oxendine of China Grove explained what an ancestor is. She wrote, “I and my ancestors before me have always lived here.”

Thank you, Marjorie. Maybe that will help.

Then, in a June 18 letter, Hugh Martin  explained, through E.O. Wilson, what a descendant is. Thank you, Mr. Martin, not only for the explanation, but also for a well-written letter.

Now, at this point in time, I would love to point out that an elite group of leaders and their outfits are blocking a very important health issue — banning tobacco in Rowan County Parks.

What is their excuse?

— Whitey Harwood

Rowan County