Thomas Mitchelson sat in his cubicle and looked up in the top right corner of his iMac desktop computer. The clock displayed Tue 12:07 p.m.

He was about 250 words into a piece on the town’s new ordinance that would ban bicycles from streets where the speed limit exceeded 35 miles per hour. It was expected to pass at tonight’s city council meeting, and Thomas knew he’d be up late covering it.

It’ll pass but not before every bike rider in the area gives a moving 15 minute speech about why they should be allowed on any and every road in the county, Thomas thought.

He didn’t personally care about the issue, but as the government and city reporter for the Southern Star Record, Thomas recognized the ordinance was the biggest talker this week.

“In a town of 15,00...

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