Today the Rocky Mountain News in Denver announced it will publish its last edition on Friday. The announcement has inspired an outpouring of blog comments on the RMN Web site, most from readers lamenting the loss of this 150-year-old institution.

What really amazes me about the Denver situation is the level of emotional response from one reader after another. One guy writes:

"Wow, I feel like I am watching Hawkeye and BJ say good bye just before the chopper lifts off for the last time."

Another blogger said he unexpectedly burst into tears when he heard the news.

And several recalled delivering the Rocky when they were kids -- and now feeling like they are losing a member of the family.

Do you think Kern County will love us like that if TBC's doors are someday locked and we are shuttled off to the Home for Obsolete Reporters?

I can't imagine what it must be like to receive that phone call:

The voice on the other end of the line would seem far away and far removed from the scream inside your head:

"Sir, it's my duty to inform you that your son has been critically wounded in Iraq. He's alive. But he has sustained serious injuries."

What kind of injuries?

"There were several, sir. I'm sorry to have to tell you that he lost both legs when an IED exploded nearby."

That's the essence of phone calls received by the families of U.S. Army Cpl. Wesley Leon Barrientos; U.S. Marine Sgt. Justin Clenard; and U.S. Marine Cpl. Evan Morgan.

All three men have family in Kern County. All three lost their legs in wartime bomb blasts.

As devastating and life-changing as those injuries are, there is something to celebrate. Not one of the three has been forgotten or left behind. On the contrary, these men and other wounded veterans have the attention of several Kern County residents, most recently members and supporters of the Wounded Heroes Fund, Kern County Chapter.

Check out the story about how this nonprofit group is helping the mother of Cpl. Barrientos. The single mother nearly lost her home to foreclosure after she left her job for seven months to help her son recover at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

But fund founder Wendy Porter and others in the group say they won't allow the Barrientos family to suffer in silence. They promise her home will be saved. And that's just a start.

What do you think about this group's efforts? Do we need to avoid the mistakes society made regarding our care and regard for Vietnam veterans?

Defense attorneys in Bakersfield said a report released Wednesday by the National Academy of Sciences has validated what they've been arguing all along.

First, that crime lab evidence must not be seen as infallible by juries.

And second, that crime labs must not be operated and managed by law enforcement or prosecutorial agencies because it can lead to bias.

"Removing crime labs from the purview of law enforcement would enhance their objectivity and public credibility," said Kern County Public Defender Mark Arnold in response to the report.

Kern County's crime lab is one of only three in California operated by a district attorney's office.

The report asserted that crime labs operated by police or prosecutors are too often beholden to the agency in charge.

The report also concluded that fingerprints, ballistics, handwriting, bite marks and other evidence long trusted by jurors in court as "scientific," often lack the scientific certainty attributed to it by prosecutors.

Kern County District Attorney Ed Jagels was not available for comment Wednesday afternoon, and a message left for Assistant District Attorney Dan Sparks was not immediately returned.

But both men in recent months strongly defended the credibility and professionalism of the local crime lab after the lab made headlines last year.

They also argued that the D.A.'s office is the ideal agency for managing the lab as the D.A. is best able to prioritize the work done by the lab.

Sparks noted that the lab has been accredited by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board, a privately run, national organization that requires rigorous record keeping, double checking of results and regular peer review.

Questions of improper handling of evidence at the crime lab arose in April after a criminalist employed at the lab was found to have handled blood evidence connected to a case involving a close friend of the criminalist's family.

A few months later, the same blood evidence came up missing at the lab.

But Sparks said they were errors in procedure, not errors in the science.

Nevertheless, critics point out that more than 100 people across the country who have been exonerated in recent years by DNA evidence were originally convicted through the use of flawed forensic science.

It's time to take a fresh look at how crime labs are operated and how forensic evidence is presented to juries, defense attorneys argue.

"Even if a crime lab is superbly managed," Arnold said, "the critics will always have the opportunity to doubt the credibility of lab results when the crime lab is supported by law enforcement."

-- Staff Writer Steven Mayer

... drivers fill up only the right lane in a two-lane left-turn until the empty left lane is completely blocked?

... "Fred Bassett" continues to run on the comics page?

... yours is the last comment on a blog?

... the steamed broccoli boils dry?

C'mon, people. Let's hear 'em. And before anyone says it, I'll get it over with:

Don't you hate it when ... someone starts a "don't you hate it when" blog?

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Today, Feb 12, is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, America's 16th president. As I wrote a story yesterday about Lincoln and a Tehachapi man's family connection to Lincoln's campaign for the Senate in 1858, I started thinking about how Lincoln has become an icon -- even a saint -- in the annals of American history.

Since the moment he was struck by an assasin's bullet on Good Friday 1865, Lincoln's image has been bathed in a haze of glory. He became "The Great Emancipator" and America's greatest president.

Then last night I watched a two-hour documentary on PBS called, "Looking for Lincoln." In this program hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Lincoln is shown with all his flaws, yet in the end he seems more real, more human -- and therefore greater -- than the deified martyr of Lincoln mythology.

Some examples:

• Lincoln was raised to hold anti-slavery views and was against the expansion of slavery, but he didn’t think the Constitution gave the federal government the right to interfere with slavery in the states.

• He was known to use the n-word and believed whites were inherrently superior to blacks.

• He asserted that former slaves should be sent to Panama or Liberia.

His ultimate greatness may lie in his ability to change and adapt his personal views throughout his tenure as president.

What do you think? Is Lincoln a true American hero?

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There’s no way to say it without telling the hard, gut-wrenching, beautiful truth.

Darlene Moriarity is dying. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe the next day or the day after.

But before the 48-year-old Tehachapi woman succumbs to the cancer that has metastasized in her liver, Moriarity has something she must do.

“I want so much to be married to the man I love,” she said Thursday, her voice weak, but her resolve unmistakable.

So on Saturday, surrounded by a small contingent of friends and family at her home in Stallion Springs, Darlene Moriarity and Scott Slota will exchange gold rings and promise to love each other until death and beyond.

The groom spent the past month at the Stallion Springs condo taking care of his fiancee’s every need, said Geneva Dassa, one of Moriarity’s “two best friends.” But he had to return to his home in Florida a few days ago for business reasons.

The plan was for Slota to return in time for a Friday wedding, but he was caught up in a search for a “trillion cut” diamond ring — Darlene’s favorite — and missed his flight.

He was expected back late Friday night, in time for today’s ceremony.

“Their love for each other,” Dassa said. “It’s a beautiful thing.”

The couple met some eight years ago through the Internet. Darlene was living in Southern California, Scott in south Florida. Several months later, Darlene moved to Florida to be close to Scott.

“They didn’t want to live together before marriage,” said Darlene’s other best friend, Shelly Johnson, so Darlene moved into her own place.

Time passed. Darlene became ill, and her life was dominated by chemotherapy, surgery, hope and relapse.

“After the first surgery, doctors told her she was one of the lucky ones,” Johnson recalled. But luck was not in the cards.

Darlene moved west to be close to family and friends who could help take care of her. Scott had to remain behind to keep his marketing business going.

Moriarity knows today’s wedding can never grow into a long marriage, but she believes the promises of love repeated here on earth can live on through eternity.

She even asked her close friends and family to be baptized so she could feel sure that all of them could some day be together again.

“I was baptized as a child,” Dassa said. “But I did it again for her.”

The Rev. Wayne Meade, chaplain at Hoffmann Hospice, will officiate the wedding. But more than that, he will be present as someone who has come to know Darlene and Scott at a time when there is no hiding from the larger meaning of their lives.

Exchanging wedding vows at a time like this may seem unrealistic to some, Meade said.

“But I sense a love between these two,” he said. “It just radiates.”

Darlene is a beautiful woman, but the disease has altered her appearance, Meade said.

“She was afraid she wouldn’t look pretty at her wedding,” he said. “I told her there’s no such thing as an ugly bride — and it’s the beauty below the surface that really counts.”

Meade estimates he has been involved with more than 500 hospice patients since he became the spiritual counselor at Hoffmann more than three years ago.

And he has seen terminal patients tenaciously hang on to life until they were able to complete one final task, one last wish.

That’s what he believes Moriarity is doing.

“The last thing on Darlene’s agenda,” Meade said, “is to be a married woman.”

-- BY STEVEN MAYER, Californian staff writer

Now that three of President Barack Obama’s nominees have acknowledged problems with the Internal Revenue Service, maybe it’s time for the rest of us to think about getting right with the tax man.

You never know. If more nominations are scuttled by Nannygates or Limogates, the president could conceivably nominate one of us for Undersecretary of Something Important.

In an attempt to find local experts, we first called three local accounting firms to ask how everyday folks like us can avoid embarrassing tax problems — like forgetting to mention $90,000 in free limousine service on our tax return.

Unfortunately, none of the local number crunchers we contacted would be caught dead giving free tax advice to a reporter. Luckily, the IRS was willing to help.

LAWN CARE TIPS

According to Topic 756 under Employment Taxes for Household Employees, if you’re looking at a high-profile job in the new administration, you’d better think about withholding some green from your gardener’s monthly check.

It’s too complicated to get into here, but you can get more information about how to stay right with Uncle Sam at IRS.gov.

But be forewarned, it doesn’t exactly read like a John Grisham novel.

The IRS says “household employees” include housekeepers, maids, babysitters, gardeners and others who work in or around your home. Your kids are excluded and may properly be thought of as cheap child labor.

If you pay your gardener, nanny or in-home bartender-therapist wages of more than $1,600 in 2008 and $1,500 in 2007 or 2006, you generally must withhold Social Security and Medicare taxes.

GREEN CARD OR GREEN LAWN

Believe it or not, homeowners and landlords must make sure their employees are eligible to work in the United States.

Employees do this by filling out a Form I-9, courtesy of Homeland Security.

Don’t end up like Zoë Baird, President Clinton’s first nominee for attorney general. Baird was caught up in Nannygate and never made it to that big leather chair in the AG’s office. File your I-9.

FOUR-WHEELED FRINGE

If your employer (or rich lobbyist friend) provides a car to you, your personal use of the car is usually considered by the IRS to be a “taxable noncash fringe benefit.”

If a chauffeur comes with the car, you’ve got some friend — but your tax bill will go up considerably.

If your rich friend helps you pay your burgeoning tax bill, we’re certain there’s a tax rule to cover that, too.

But that’s another story.

-- By Steven Mayer, Government Team reporter