Marc Miller wrote a letter, published in the Sept. 6 issue, in which he points out a writer’s incorrect usage of the word “yielding.” Just three pages prior, there was an article about a new Kirkland business (The Whole Cat and Kaboodle) describing the store, with this gem: “Assumably, it is a cat’s paradise.”

Note to the Reporter – the word you are searching for is “presumably.” “Assumably” is a little-used adverb form of the adjective “assumable.”

Mr. Miller’s comment about the Reporter’s lax journalistic standards is correct. In fact, in our house, we refer to it as “the Howler,” after the “Dog River Howler,” which is a fictional newspaper in a Canadian sitcom (Corner Gas). The fictional newspaper has a very poor reputation for bad grammar and usage, among other defects. To Mr. Miller’s comments, I would just add: if you write it small-town and sloppy, so will it be perceived.

Derald Porter, Kirkland