DAILY PLANET EDITOR SLAIN

Max Taylor Found Murdered In Office

By George "The Streak" Talmer

The Daily Planet remained in shock yesterday as traumatized staffers tried to absorb the news that one of their own, George "Max" Taylor, was killed at his desk in the newspaper's headquarters last night.

During a hastily arranged press conference, Metropolis Police Lieutenant Maggie Sawyer snapped at one reporter's question. "The man has a number-two pencil protruding from his right ear. Unless we're talking about a bar bet gone bad, then yes, I'd have to say foul play was involved."

Police detained Taylor's secretary, Loreen Kenderson, for questioning, but fellow Planet employees expressed surprise that Kenderson would have anything to do with Taylor's death. "Loreen loved Max like a son," said one grieving co-worker. "She had been with him for years. There has to be more to this story."

One MPD officer who requested anonymity pointed out the possible symbolic message of the killing. "Max Taylor was assassinated with the instrument of the writer, a pencil. He was stabbed in the ear. Did he hear something he shouldn't have? This has all the markings of an Intergang hit."

Earlier this year, Taylor became the youngest editor in the history of the Planet, thanks to his ability to command attention as both a columnist and a straight news reporter. Among his most high-profile recent efforts was a series of exposés on the so-called Urban Legend last summer. His chronicle of the exploits of the bizarre masked marauder pushed circulation of The Big Apricot's most-read periodical to record highs, and numerous other publications, including the Ledger, reprinted the stories.

A graduate of the University of Georgia's Grady School of Journalism, the Bludhaven native began earning a reputation for hard-hitting investigative journalism at his school's Red and Black periodical. As a freshman, he exposed a hazing scandal that brought down a national fraternity. Upon graduation, Taylor earned a graduate degree from Metropolis University while working as a cub reporter at the Planet.

Max Taylor--The Daily Planet

"The city of Metropolis has lost a legend," stated publishing magnate Franklin Stern, owner of The Daily Planet. "Nobody knew how to find the core of a feature--the truth of a story--better than Max. He will be missed." Echoing Taylor's famous tagline, Stern added, "No longer will we feel the power of Max Taylor's mighty pen bringing us 'what we are going to talk about today.'"

HOME SCHOOLING
By Kathy Romita

In the last decade or so, some school-age children have left public and parochial schools and are being taught at home. In most cases, the students are educated by one of their parents--usually the mother. With the rise in school violence, long bus commutes and decreased national test scores, some parents have made the decision to keep their children at home and teach them reading, writing and arithmetic...among other subjects.

Kansas state law mandates that public schools must conduct 1,116 academic hours of education--which breaks down to 6 academic hours per day for 186 days. An academic hour consists of 50 minutes of classroom or instructional time. But private schools are free to set their own schedules, and home schools are categorized as private. Since the teacher/student ratio is so small--sometimes 1/1--the instruction is focused and very intense. Students learn more even though they actually attend fewer hours of "classroom" study.

But running a home school isn't easy. Home schools are required to register with the Kansas Department of Education and encouraged to create lesson plans, keep attendance records and grades. The burden of being totally responsible for your own children's education is tremendous. But the rewards can be equally tremendous. "When I first started home schooling my children, I was shocked at how the younger ones were learning what I was teaching the older ones," said Smallville resident Karen Moat. My first grader started speaking French, which I was teaching my fifth grader! I have home schooled all eight of my kids at one time or another up to high school. I provide a foundation for them and then send them out into the world. It has been a successful venture for us. My kids always enter high school at the top of the class."

"I couldn't very well tell my mom that the dog ate my homework," joked Moat's oldest son, Nicholaus, who is now 20. "I had to be disciplined. I had to finish my assignments because it was just her and me--I mean she and I...whatever. She could never call on someone else for the answer. I learned to always be prepared. And if I didn't understand something, she would always take the time to explain the concept to me and help me work through the problem. I've also been involved with gymnastics since I was four, so I never missed out on the social side of attending a public school."
Moat explained, "Most people shy away from home school, because they fear their children will not have good social skills. I have yet to see this problem with my children (they have inherited their father's outgoing personality and all have adjusted to high school just fine.) They are also involved in athletics--something I feel is an excellent way to develop friendships. As far as the kids are concerned, the biggest downside is that they never get two-hour delays or snow days! They are, however, finished with school by the middle of May."

Under KSHSAA (Kansas State High School Athletic Association) home-schooled students cannot participate on public high school teams. But they do join community clubs and organizations as well as attend sports classes.
Moat said, "Home schooling to me is not a chore and actually saves me time. I don't have to drive to school, volunteer for lunchroom duty, do fund-raisers or serve on the school board. I even have time to do woodworking and cooking with the kids. People are always so surprised when they see how well-rounded my children are. I don't keep them locked away. And I never have to worry about them when they're at school."

VOICES FROM THE FUTURE

Safety in Numbers?

By Christopher James Beppo

In accordance with the Ledger's commitment to keeping the public informed of the investigation into Ezra Small's writings, the Ezra Small Project presents another excerpt from the inscrutable diary of our town's founder.

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LEX LUTHOR
TO THE CYBER RESCUE

By Frank Moore

A potentially devastating virus targeting computers at Smallville High School was recently stopped thanks to the know-how of LuthorCorp and the generosity of Lex Luthor.

Earlier this week, a rogue code of mysterious origin had been discovered in the computers of the student newspaper, The Smallville High Torch, where it deleted files, erased hard drives and had the potential to shut down the high school's entire internal network.

The computers had been donated last year by LuthorCorp CEO Lionel Luthor after vandals destroyed the paper's offices, so it was only fitting that Lex stepped in to do his part.

"Like his father, Lex understands that giving back to a community means more than being its largest single employer," said LuthorCorp spokesman Mitchell Taylor. "It means helping to ensure that its children are given every
opportunity to become productive members of that community."

After the virus surfaced, the machines were immediately removed from the premises and shipped to LuthorCorp headquarters in Metropolis. There, the company's expert technical support staff painstakingly scanned and debugged the individual computers before returning them to the Torch, all completely free of charge.

"We caught this just in time," said Will Soo, systems supervisor at LuthorCorp. "Eventually, it would have wormed its way through every console in the school causing incredible chaos. Attendance records, grades, transcripts--they all could've been wiped out."

And although the origin of the thwarted virus and the motives of its sender are still unclear, Smallville High's administrators and students can at least take comfort in knowing that their benefactors at LuthorCorp are always online when needed.