Let's do a photo essay on the C-J -- first view, the loading dock and garbage dumpster.

The Sunday editions of both the Tribune and the Courier-Journal provide good coverage of yesterday’s Holiday Fest in downtown New Albany, although kindly permit me to note that the “real” Saturnalia begins on December 12, and not downtown – yet.

See box at right and click on the illustration for complete details. Perhaps next year Saturnalia will run at multiple campuses, including 415 Bank Street … but I digress.

Given that the point of it all was to stage the annual celebration at various places scattered throughout downtown in an effort to draw attention to the revitalization effort, the C-J certainly didn't do the organizers any favors with its accompanying photograph.

Of all the more tasteful vistas that might have been incorporated into the piece -- perhaps one of the business recently opening downtown, as mentioned by Stefanie Griffith and Debbie Farmer of Develop New Albany in the text of the article itself -- the editor instead chose to give the reading public a prime view of the long-neglected Reisz furniture building, complete with its “metaled” up windows and a huge “for sale” sign.

Thanks, dude, although another way to look at it is if building owners treated their properties with respect instead of neglect over seemingly endless decades, some of that good karma might come flowing back to them.

Holiday Fest bigger, better in New Albany, text and photos by Christopher Hall.

The streets of downtown New Albany were a little busier than normal yesterday, as the city's bigger-than-normal Holiday Fest offered everything from Christmas trees for sale to a chili cook-off -- even before Santa showed up to switch on the city's Christmas lights.