Quick Read

James Nash leads Thursday with an excellent column on the proposed casinos initiative, complimented perfectly by a brilliant graphic.

Mark Ferenchik’s profile (metro) of Jack Workman, a shooting victim who has returned to work, is also excellent and evocative… Sherri Williams story on the possible move (again) of Octoberfest, should have been buried on B5… Instead, a story about a random checkpoint (I thought Columbus didn’t do random checkpoints), is buried there… Are the Columbus police embarrassed about cracking down on drunk driving, as murder after murder goes unsolved?

Bob Baptist’s bland column (sports) on the Big Ten’s Rating Power Index (yes, another March Madness stat for geeks), is somehow trumped in dullness by Ken Gordon’s pedestrian feature on Ohio State’s professional day, which gets bogged down in forty yard times…

Tracy Turner splits her personality in Business, writing an magnificent column on the Buckeye Hall of Fame Café falling into receivership and a marginal column on restaurants increasing bargains during this recession (wasn’t this same piece run on television a week ago)…

Life and Arts’ placement of the ongoing spat between Jim Cramer and Jon Stewart on their front page is marvelous… Equally marvelous, the often ignored Weekender, which features Aaron Beck’s excellent chronicle of Celtic music groups…