Do you have gout?

I do, and boy does it hurt.

I’ve had a broken leg. I’ve passed some decent size kidney stones. I’ve had a rock propelled into my right eye from a slingshot.

I’d take the pain from any of those over a severe flareup of gout any day.

 Before any mothers out there write back to say, “Yeah, but have you given birth,” I concede that I have not. So I’ll not pretend that gout can be as painful as giving birth.

 But it is a real pain.

When I was younger, before gout first flared in my right big toe, I often wondered why Mom complained so whenever her gout showed up. I often gave her the same look that I sometimes see pointed in my direction these days. I’m sorry I ever doubted her.

While I often receive those looks that just scream “get over it,” I can spot a fellow gout sufferer. Their looks are those of understanding. Their looks are ones of understanding. Of saying, “I’m glad it’s your toe and not mine.”

We also share stories of pain and possible remedies. Cherry juice seems to help my swelling, although not always. Do you have any recommendations for relief? I’d appreciate you sharing them.

 Thanks for reading my blog, and thanks for logging onto TribTown.com.

Freeman Municipal Airport officials dedicated its new terminal at a reception Wednesday afternoon.

The general public will have an opportunity to take a look at the building Sept. 1. An open house is planned from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. that day, Airport Manager Don Furlow said Wednesday.

Although The Tribune editorialized against the project last year because of tight financial times for the city and the airport, it was still good to see that the project turned out well. Given the tough financial times, it was also good to see that the airport board moved slowly in terms of leaving the second floor’s completion for a later project.

Furlow, Mayor Jim Bullard, U.S. Rep, Baron Hill and Airport Authority President Bob Zickler described the terminal as a gateway to the community. And they’re right, for the folks who enter the city through Freeman Field’s flightline. The hope is that a more presentable — and more functional — terminal will encourge more air traffic into and out of the city.

It was also good to see that the building’s design paid tribute to the genesis of Freeman Field as a training airport for pilots during World War II.

A reader indentifying themself as “Sherry” offered a reader comment to a column in The Tribune concerning Seymour Board of Public Works and Safety members upset with our coverage of their role, or lack of their role, in the officer Bernard Petro discipline.

Sherry posed a question toward the end of her comment: “I wonder who’s picture you will replace hers with and who you will pick on when she is gone,” referring to Seymour Common Councilwoman Mary Voss.

I assume Sherry’s talking about the use of Voss’ mugshot with news stories in The Tribune.

I’m inferring from Sherry’s question or comment that she thinks the use of mugshots with stories is punitive, but that’s not the case.

Newspapers publish mugshots for two basic reasons — they provide a little art on a gray page and they let people see who’s making a point of providing leadership, regardless of what you may think of that leadership.

We routinely run mugshots of public officials when they are quoted extensively in a story. If a public official shows little leadership or comments very little in public meetings, their mugs aren’t likely to be used too often. If someone speaks out, if someone provides leadership, their mugshot will likely be published quite often.

That’s the case with Voss.

She’s been a vocal city council member, and that voice will be missed when she leaves council at the end of this year, regardless of whether you agree with her on any number of issues she’s dealt with over the years as a council member.

Voss said after losing this spring’s primary election that she assumed she lost because of the smoking ordinance. She also quickly pointed out that she would not change what she did concerning that ordinance. That’s leadership. And that’s why you’ll see mugshots of people like Voss and others in the newspaper.

Thanks for reading Dan’s blog, and thanks for logging onto TribTown.com.

I mentioned early Sunday that I had been mostly unconnected to TribTown.com and my work e-mail while on vacation last week.

Generally, that wasn’t such a bad thing. We all need time to re-energize ourselves, and taking a look at other Web sites and newspapers offered food for thought. There was also time spent simply thinking about what’s coming next here in the newsroom as we migrate more and more toward the Internet.

But there was certainly a downside to being away from e-mail. The missives stacked up, with most being junkmail despite our spam blocker.

I had to wade through more than 200 e-mails. Again, most were junk and were easy to discard. Most of the rest were from folks here at the office, and they knew I was off. Most were simply heads-up notes on what was going on.

How do you handle e-mail while you’re out of the office for an extended period? Do you have others go through them? Do you bounce them all somewhere else? Are you so tethered to e-mail that there’s no way you could survive a week of vacation without it?

Thanks for reading my blog, and thanks for logging onto TribTown.

The family and I have been on vacation, and although I brought my laptop, I ‘ve been virtually disconnected.

The WiFi card wouldn’t allow a connection, and I couldn’t figure things out at the Barnes & Noble. Hence, no blog postings until now, on our trip home.

We’ve had a great vacation, including our younger daughter’s first trip to the ocean and the beach. It was fun watching her eyes and hearing her initial, apprehensive giggles turn into shrieks of laughter.

About not being connected, I’m not exactly complaining. At times in recent years as many of us become tethered to e-mail and our offices, I’ve felt like I’ve spent more time reading e-mails and checking out what’s happening via TribTown.com than I enjoying my time off.

Anyway, I’m connected again and recharged to face the challenges of the coming week.

Thanks for reading my blog, and thanks for reading TribTown.com.

Have a safe and happy Fourth of July.

And thanks for reading Tribtown. and Dan’s blog.

Have you driven past the old Seymour Elks Lodge golf course lately?

What a shame. It looks pretty sad and lonely. The greens are overgrown. Ditto the fairways. And talk about roughs.

Driving to Brownstown on Thursday, you couldn’t help but notice the green and tee box closest to U.S. 50 looked like you could cut it and bale it. On the drive home to the office that afternoon, someone had mowed it. It still looked like you could bale the grass.

What’s going on with the property’s sale from Elks Lodge 462 to Lucas Ackerman of Brownstown? We don’t know for sure, except that deal apparently is not complete. We’ve also heard that there is, or was, a chance that the land could survive as a golf course. That would probably make some area golfers and neighboring property owners happy.

But taking a look at the overgrown greens, fairways, tees and roughs, it’s hard to imagine you could see anyone opening up golf course there this summer, even if there is something to those rumors.

A friend remains irritated with me that The Tribune took an editorial stance against the city of
Seymour buying the property and converting it into a municipal golf course. Seymour Common Council agreed.

I still think that was the right position for the community, although I understand his assertion that having the property remain a golf course would be a community asset while people like Jim Plump as they attempt to recruit industrial prospects to locate their operations in

Jackson
County.

I just think the private sector should decide whether the best use of that ground is for building new homes or sinking incredible putts.

Thanks for reading The Tribune and logging onto TribTown.com.

We’ve been moving toward better online connections with our readers for years, with a greater emphasis over the past 10 months or so.

But last week’s Freedom Editors Conference in Tempe, Ariz., put that effort on warp speed.

Editors from across Freedom, owners of The Tribune, gathered along with our publishers and partners from our interactive and broadcast divisions to examine where we’re going, to stress the commitment to getting there a little faster (OK, a lot faster) and to jump-start that effort.

As a result, we’ll be talking with readers even more than we already do, conducting what the Newspaper Next folks call “job interviews.”

In those interviews, we’ll question readers and non-readers about their lives, what they do and what they need to help make their lives better. We’ll take that information, decide what “jobs” they need from The Tribune, both our print product and online component, www.TribTown.com, and do our best to meet those customer needs.

We’ll also create online communities. We’ve started that process with adding more interactive reader comments to our Web site, and we’re excited that readers are starting to embrace that new tool.

We’re seeing readers talk back to us and to each other through the reader comments. Recent examples of those community conversations can be seen on a number of story lines, including stories and letters about Seymour Community Schools’ decision concerning waivers for elementary schools, gas prices and the entry of an independent candidate into the Seymour mayoral election.

We’re also happy to note that readers are generally being civil to each other, and even to us. And we’ve noticed some posters have challenged others about their facts and their civility. All that’s a good thing.

Another recent step toward being more interactive and vital is the introduction of blogs to our Web site.

You can talk with reporter Aubrey Woods’ via his blog at www.TribTown.com by clicking onto Opinion, and then clicking onto Blogs. Aubrey’s blog is called “For the Record,” reflecting his work with public records and as a reporter in general.

Mine can also be found there. It’s called “Dan’s blog.” Pretty original, eh?

Why the urgency to become more interactive and more engaged with readers on the Internet? It’s pretty simple. That’s where the eyeballs are, and that’s where more and more people are turning for their information needs.

About a decade ago, Freedom Newspapers Inc. became Freedom Communications Inc., acknowledging that we really aren’t just a newspaper business anymore. That’s become more and more true.

And you’ll see more evidence as we further develop our new Web site.

But our message and our mission isn’t changing. We remain committed to being the 800-pound gorilla in terms of local news, sports, lifestyle, entertainment and advertising information.

So continue to read the newspaper and cruise the Web with us, and thanks for doing so.

Welcome to Dan’s blog. This is my first attempt at blogging, so please be patient as we develop a rhythm and style.

Dan’s blog will be a hodgepodge of thoughts and ideas. At times I’ll be posting about The Tribune and our Web site, TribTown.com. Other times I’ll be posting about stories we’re covering and even stories we want to cover. In that case, I may be asking for your hlep with providing leads and sources. At other times, I may be posting about things that just have me thinking or even irritated.

I invite you to keep reading, think about what I’m posting and offer your input. And don’t forget to check out other blogs on TribTown.com.

And thanks for reading The Tribune and TribTown.com.