THE BORDER REPORT

In one of the goofiest charges of plagiarism in Southern Arizona history, a Northwest Explorer reporter was fired for recycling a story about pet amenities at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort. As far as plagiarizing, it's a pretty lame scheme. Apparently, the reporter re-wrote a story he wrote for his journalism class. The concierge cited in the story doesn't even work there anymore, the editor said in a statement. The reporter is never identified and the newspaper appears to have eliminated the story from its Web site. By all accounts, as lazy a piece of plagiarizing as any I've ever seen, then a hurried shush-job by the editors. But what's truly disturbing is the news judgement for this story. How many Oro Valley residents actually go to the resort? Of those, how many bring their pets? Maybe the newspaper should pimp the small kennel businesses throughout the community. I can guarantee you Loews Ventana Canyon Resort doesn't need their help. Stay tuned, there's some interesting investigations on the way.

-- Michael Marizco