April. The sweet smell of hogs is in the air. Mother Nature is still toying with us, and you guys are still flubbing. Thank God.

The front-page story in the Register-Mail on the County Board needing to better account for its expenditures was a true cheap shot. The Board had a highly favorable audit, thanks in large part to Chris Winick, the finance committee, and the entire Knox County staff. As in every audit that I've participated in over the last ten years, the accountants stress that we could always do a better job in attaching invoices to requests for payment. This seems to be a standard line. To pick that suggestion out of an excellent audit and make a negative front-page story out of it is both despicable and unfair. It further demonstrates the bias the Register-Mail has against the County. They're all City boys. I suppose we don't mingle with them enough. What a Flub!

The ongoing war in Afghanistan deserves mention, again. Now we're bombing the Canadians. I figured this would eventually happen, with their socialized medicine and all. This pathetic incident drives home the war to Illinois. The plane dropping the bomb was from a Springfield reserve unit. Still, to date, the enemy, whoever they are, has not killed one single soldier. This is a stunning example of having to look at the enemy face to face, and realizing that he is we. These are flubs that cost human lives.

Now, speaking of flubs. The Carl Sandburg College Board needs to take the bow for April. In a somewhat ludicrous and relatively costly display of gamesmanship, they parade three people into town who believe they are competing for the Presidency of Carl Sandburg College. Little did they know, although I'm sure they did, that their chances of success were less than me winning the Pulitzer Prize for educational reporting. Let me make this perfectly clear, this has nothing to do with Tom Schmitt. I hear he is a nice guy, although he apparently finds it difficult to delegate authority. This has to do with the Carl Sandburg Board, who have never, since Carl Sandburg appointed them, done anything surprising or out of character. They are extremely conservative, and like to keep everything in the family. Their meetings are so routine and boring that not even The Register-Mail can make a story out of them. They are all pre-scripted and the Board serves as a ''Yes Sir'' stamp of approval for whatever the President wants. They are not about to let an outsider into this game. Someone who doesn't know how to play this carefully choreographed stage play. Someone who might in fact see the game for what it is, a joke. If any of the three candidates who came to town looking to better themselves by seeking this Presidency happen to be reading The Zephyr, I apologize to you for this fiasco. This was a done deal a good year before Crist ever retired. You didn't want this anyway. The personnel would have seen to your failure. This is an all in the family deal. And you weren't family. Sorry.