Dead seals don't talk

So the City of London hastily called a news conference at 4:30 this afternoon. The news? It's sad: Two of the four seals that used to live at London's Storybook Gardens died while en route to their new home in St. Louis. A third seal is in serious condition, while the fourth made it OK.

The seals were being moved to the St. Louis facility after it was determined that the theme park here in London was inadequate for their needs. Storybook, if you've ever been here, is a venerable institution that time, sadly, seems to have forgotten. Attendance has been dropping for years, and plan after plan to rejuvenate it has gotten mired in the muck of small-town municipal politics. The seal move was yet another milestone along a path no one seems willing or able to reverse.

The Twittersphere is ablaze with discussion over whether or not this news merits a high-profile, late-weekend news conference, and whether or not there may be other higher-priority stories worthy of similar coverage in our town. The seals may be gone - sad in its own right - but the discussion over how effectively the folks who run the place are doing will continue for some time to come. Something tells me this kind of exchange is a good thing.

Your turn: Thoughts?

Oops, before I forget, here's a quick resource rundown:

Hashtags: #LdnONT and #sealgate
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