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Mark your calendars for these Sundays that will features Books pages in the Ideas section:

Nov. 29

Dec. 13

Dec. 27

Jan. 10

Jan. 24

Feb. 7

Feb. 21

March 7

March 21

April 4

April 18

May 2

May 16

May 30

June 13

June 27

July 11

July 18

Aug. 1

Aug. 15

Aug. 29

Sept. 12

Sept. 26

Oct. 10

Oct. 24

Nov. 7

Nov. 21

Dec.5

Dec. 19

Oprah closes shop on her daytime show in 2011.

All the sobbing and whimpering you hear is from all of the local TV affiliates that carry the iconic show.

I'm almost never at home to see "Oprah," but even when I am, I tend to prefer holiday "Twilight Zone" marathons.

But her top demographic isn't guys like me anyway.

And there's no disputing her charisma, magnetism and ability to connect.

What beyond the obvious can you say about anyone who would beat and burn a 3-month-old puppy and leave her for dead?

Now a suspect has turned himself in after being identified by a Crimestoppers tip.

I wonder what his story is and what could possibly provoke him to do something so inhuman?

Singer Clay Aiken of "American Idol" fame caused a bit of a stir recently when he voiced his displeasure with the new regime taking control of the Wake County Board of Education.

Aiken, who graduated from high school in North Raleigh, described the new majority, whose main goal seems to be to reverse the district's socioeconomic diversity policy, as "selfish idiots."

I wouldn't go so far as to call them that, but they could do more harm than good.

We'll have to see.

We also need to be fair. The proponents of the diversity policy have produced little empirical data to show that it's working.
If they believe in its efficacy as devoutly as they say they do, they ought to be willing to measure its impact.

Wake County has been an interesting case study in the philosophical battle over diversity and attendance zones versus neighborhood schools.

In Guilford County, it seems we long gave up the ghost on diverse schools, which today are logistically and politically impossible to achieve.

It fragments the community and shortchanges students on life lessons, such as getting along with others who may look or speak differently.

How many times have those blind spots played out among adults in racial division and bad public policy?

But there’s little hope or community will here for our inevitable march toward largely segregated have and have-not schools.

That's too bad, but, alas, it's the way things are.

'

How could this happen?

How could the projected cost of the city's planned swim center miss the mark so badly?

The project is $6 million short of the cheapest bid to build the facility, approved as part of a parks and recreation bond package in 2008.

This, even in a climate in which construction costs are supposed to be relative bargains in light of the tough economy.

The lowest bid from a contractor totaled slightly less than $20 million.

Why?

Probably because of the arbitrary nature of the price tag, and last-minute addition of the project to the bond package in the first place.

The aquatics center was neither recommended for, nor included in a package of projects suggested by city Parks and Recreation Department staff.

It was slipped into the package at the 11th hour by City Councilman Mike Barber, who championed the center because of its economic development potential.

Barber’s enthusiasm for the idea was understandable. It does have exciting potential.

But the process seemed impulsive and off-the-cuff from day one, involving little forethought and almost zero due diligence.

Where did the $12 million price tag come from anyway?

And why $12 million iwhen city staff estimated that a competitive facility would cost at least $15 million?

Other signs should have raised questions about the price. Cary’s Triangle Aquatic Center, which was privately built, opened in 2007 and cost more than twice as much as Greensboro's price tag, at $25 million.

The city should have come clean with a more realistic figure rather than face the prospect now of asking for more taxpayer money to see the project through.

And no one should dare suggest is taking money to close the gap from other parks and rec projects bond projects  approved by voters.

Lou Dobbs has quit CNN after creating all kinds of furor with his often inaccurate and fiery comments about topics such as immigration and the birther controversy.

It was an inevitable departure; he was costing the struggling news channel credibility and bucking his bosses, even when he was obviously wrong.

Wonder where he'll wind up.

My money's on Fox (which, I admit, is hardly a bold prognostication).

Selling candy and magazines to raise cash for schools is so five minutes ago, reports the News & Observer of Raleigh.

So a school in Goldsboro is taking the gloves off.

You raise enough money, you raise a test grade. Or two.

Twenty dollars equals 10 extra points added to each of two test grades of a student's choosing,

A parents group came up with the idea and, amazingly, the principal approved.

Update: The school district has now pulled the plug on this idea. Smart move, but it's a wonder it ever got off the ground in the first place.

Here's what David Hoggard says in his blog about Tuesday's council results:

Second in the king-maker role this time around (to consultant Bill Burckley) is undeniably the Hammer Brothers of Rhino fame. Eight of their nine picks ended up a winner this term suggesting that their pulse-feeling fingers are more sensitive to the mood of the local electorate than that of the N&R’s who endorsed six of nine.

What David may be missing here is that the point of our endorsements is not to pick the winners. It is to pick who we perceive as the best candidates.

We do that based on what we believe each candidate brings to the table, not his or her chances for victory.

We're figured, for instance, that Joel Landau was a decided underdog to Mary Rakestraw in District 4, but we chose him, narrowly, over her, based on the fresh perspectives he could offer.

Frankly, we were surprised the race was as close as it turned out to be.

This is not an NCAA Tournament pool for us. We're not in this to predict winners; we're endorsing who we think is best in each race.

I’m not convinced Virginia Foxx is as nutty as she sometimes sounds.

Describing the Democrats’ health care reform ideas as a bigger threat than terrorism the other day may have been by design.

“The Daily Show” last week ran a piece on less-famous members of Congress saying outrageous things to carve a national niche for themselves. (And grab a few headlines.)

Couple this with Foxx’s comments about Matthew Shepard (she later apologized for her choice of words) and you have to wonder if it’s calculated.

Sad to say, it’s red meat to too many people and probably won’t hurt her at the polls.

Vile-mouthed rapper Gucci Mane isn't coming to Greensboro tomorrow after all.

It's likely O.J. da Juice Man and seven other acts will fill the void with their own brand of diss-functional entertainment.

But somehow Gucci Mane's inability to leave his home state of Georgia -- by law,  no less,. seems like poetic justice.