Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 8, 1994 TAG: 9402080049
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Ray Reed
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A: One person's dumb comic is another's must-read.
"Where I'm Coming From" is one among twenty or more comics in the newspaper. Some are targeted to specific groups. "Doonesbury," for example, is not widely read but is intensely liked by those who do.
"Blondie" and "Family Circus" have wide audiences. "The Far Side" can only be called weird, but this weirdness tickles some people's funny bones - including mine.
All these comics have one overall purpose - to appeal to the various groups of readers the newspaper serves.
"Where I'm Coming From" appears once a week and takes about the same space as other Sunday comics.
If everybody loved every comic, that would mean we're all alike, which would be awfully dull.
Look carefully at comics and you may notice the humor usually comes from differences - the opinions of kids versus adults, or what ought to happen in life vs. what really goes on.
Differences give artists fresh ideas. Blondie in the '90s has her own catering business. Editorial cartoonists are playing around with President Clinton's chin and jowls.
Humor thrives on differences.
Earle's end looms closer
Q: What is the city going to do about the old Hotel Earle? It's such an eyesore. S.V., Roanoke
A: Expect demolition to start within 60 days, says Dave Saunders, managing partner.
Two years and five months after fire gutted the infamous Earle, and recession stifled development, there are still some legal and bureaucratic hassles to straighten out.
The city building commissioner in October gave the owners 22 days to tear down the Earle or come up with reasons why not.
The case comes up in court Feb. 16, with Market Towne Properties, the owner, trying to hold off demolition just long enough for the federal government to decertify the building as a historic structure.
If it's torn down without the federal action, the partnership stands to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax credits on the rest of the block it has developed.
Saunders wishes people would notice the other end of the block, where Market Place Center's 35,000 square feet are fully leased. City building commissioner Ron Miller agrees the partners have done a great job there.
The Earle's corner can become just as nice, Saunders said.
Inflation rate
Q: You usually publish the consumer price index for the previous year, but I haven't seen it this year. R.S., Roanoke
A: Inflation for 1993 was 2.7 per cent, the lowest in seven years because of falling tobacco and energy prices and a slowdown in medical costs to twice the inflation rate.
The CPI usually is published on the business page about two weeks after every quarter, and this info appeared Jan. 14.
Got a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.
by CNB