I am not typically a letter writer, but I just can’t sit by and watch this anymore without saying something.

This morning, Aug. 28, on the local headlines for NBCNews.com, they featured a headline from the Kirkland Reporter that read: “Man yielding knife in downtown Kirkland arrested for disorderly conduct.”

I’m wondering what is the criteria for being able to write for your paper? Does your staff know the difference between “yielding” and “wielding”? Oh, sure, they sound the same, but have rather distinctly different meanings.

“Yielding” means to “give up” and “wielding” means to “hold or brandish a weapon.” According to your badly written headline, the man did nothing wrong.

Further, in the actual police blotter itself, we find this:

“Disorderly conduct: 3:52 p.m., 100 block of Central Way. A 20-year-old man was taken into custody after he was seen yelling and waving a knife without a shirt on in downtown Kirkland. Police located the man trying to enter a business and detained him for being in possession of a small knife. He was cited for unlawful carrying and handling of weapons in addition to disorderly conduct.”

So, I am led to believe that the knife had no shirt on. Does your editorial staff understand what a dangling participle is? (No, I am not an English teacher, but I did pay attention to English class every now and then.)

Does anyone at your paper ever edit or check their stories for accuracy? Do they know how? I realize that your paper is inexpensive for me as a Kirkland resident, but with newspapers going “out of style/going out of business,” it seems like this would be a time to raise your game just a little and report things not just with good grammar, but with accuracy as well. You made it to national attention this morning, and you look like a joke.

Come on guys – get it together.

Marc Miller, Kirkland