As news days have gone in recent weeks, yesterday was one of the slower in terms of events that seemed to demand a presence on Page One.

Reporter Tim Barker had reported and written in recent days the indepth look at sex offenders registries, so we knew we had a solid piece of journalism ready to use when we walked in yesterday morning. The same with Deirdre Shesgreen’s analysis of the race for the congressional seat being vacated by Kenny Hulshof – and its national implications.

David Hunn provided an interesting follow to Sunday’s Floyd Irons recruiting story. We thought the follow on the two athletes worthy of front-page play, but not a slam-dunk decision. Same with the elections in Pakistan. Given the U.S. interests, and the backdrop of Bhutto’s assassination, we thought the story appropriate but not demanding a front-page presence.

Other stories we considered for A1 were:

“Midlifte suicides rise sharply”(Ran atop A3)

“Suspect dodged sex charges in 1999″ (Stripped across the top of the Metro front)

“Global rift over Kosovo is widening” (Ran atop A6)

“Frogs have an ancestor that’s huge — and mean” (Ran as the seventh  national digest item on A3)

The first two were given serious consideration. In the end,  Pakistan stayed on the front over the suicides story because Pakistan had a photograph and it helped the overall appearance of the front page. (No other story on the page had a display photo.)

The “suspect dodged charges…” stayed in Metro because that bit of information did not  advance  our knowledge or understanding of the recent horrific murder. And, with the sex offender registry already on the page, it seemed an odd and excessive pairing on Page One.  This story was closest to moving out to A1.

(The fossil frogs weren’t in the running for more than a few seconds. )