*Was the John Edwards paternity admission so important that it took "top story" status on this morning's NBC "Today Show"? I think not.

*Sorry to hear of the passing of John Halligan, former PR man for the New York Rangers, who recently worked out of the National Hockey League office. Halligan - and his wife/assistant, Janet, who survives - were particularly helpful to an upstate community newspaper's young sports editor when he needed press credentials for Madison Square Garden.

*Politics aside, would a woman who once posed nude for a magazine have a chance at election for U.S. Senate? Unlikely. Yet that's in the background of Massachusetts' Sen.-elect Scott Brown.

*Disappointed to discover our paper didn't carry an obit for Robert B. Parker, author of the "Spenser" detective novels. He was major figure who shouldn't have been overlooked. Same with Kate McGarrigle, the well-known singer also died earlier this week.