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I honestly don't think the issue of her 17-year-old daughter's pregnancy ought to be a big deal in Sarah Palin's quest for the vice presidency.

But her and her husband's prepared statement about the matter does raise a concern.

First, that statement in its entirety:

"We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us. Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.

"Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levi's privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates."

I appreciate and respect the love and support in that message, but nowhere is there any mention of this being a mistake that young people, rich, poor and in-between, should avoid.

I don't mean in a judgmental, fire-and-brimstone vein -- just some acknowledgment that teen pregnancy isn't OK.

To be clear, I don't think teens ought to be marred with scarlet letters for getting pregnant, and I definitely don't think the progeny of such mistakes should be called "illegitimate," as some people still insist on doing.

The baby didn't choose to be born and he or she certainly doesn't deserve such a mean and contemptuous label.

But teen pregnancy almost always is a poor choice for the mother, the father and certainly the baby.

The Palins don't address that. They barely even hint it.

The Grasshoppers ended their season with a victory today and another banner year in attendance, drawing more than 10,000 fans to New Bridge Bank Park.

The Hoppers fell short of the last year's record attendance but led the South Atlantic League in total attendance anyway.

Some complain that the downtown ballpark may be good for the team but lousy for downtown.

To a small extent, they may be right. I've seen little evidence that the park has done much for restaurants in the area.

After all, they do sell lots of food and drink at the stadium. Who's still hungry after a big fat ol' ballpark sausage dog, plus ketchup-drenched fries?

But the games do draw people downtown that normally may not come and offers them at least a glimpse of the many changes going on there.

And the stadium has inspired some downtown developers to build residences in the area, which absolutely will have a direct long-term impact on downtown's vitality.

Former Greensboro Daily News reporter Charles Babington, who covered the Klan/Nazi shootings in 1979, has been himself caught in political crossfire for his analysis of Barack Obama's historic acceptance speech as the Democratic nominee for president.

MSNC Keith Olbermann took Babington to task for his critical take on Obama's speech, which was widely praised by conservatives and liberals alike.

Olbermann fumed: "It is analysis that strikes me as having borne no resemblance to the speech you and I just watched. None whatsoever. And for it to be distributed by the lone national news organization in terms of wire copy to newspapers around the country and Web sites is a remarkable failure of that news organization.

"Charles Babington, find a new line of work."

Babington wrote in part in his analysis, that, "instead of dwelling on specifics, (Obama) laced the crowning speech of his long campaign with the type of rhetorical flourishes that Republicans mock and the attacks on John McCain that Democrats cheer. The country saw a candidate confident in his existing campaign formula: tie McCain tightly to President Bush, and remind voters why they are unhappy with the incumbent."

Here is an Editor & Publisher report on the debate.

Gerald Witt reports over at Decision 2008 that N.C. A&T professor and USA Today columnist DeWayne Wickham is blogging from the Democratic National Convention.

DeWayne is a colleague of mine at A&T and I've always respected him as an author and journalist.

But I'm gonna rat him out anyway.

I remember discussing blogging with him a few years ago. Not him, he said, dismissively. Nor did he think it was something newspapers should be wasting time with. I guess something changed his mind.

One of ironies of a police video on heavy crowds downtown late at night was one officer's editorial complaint that a parking deck was congested.

Isn't that what we want?

Remember, Greensboro traditionally has had problems getting people to use the decks any time of day, but especially at night. So, now we're concerned that people are actually parking there?

In rhe meantime, the city is considering adding one or two more decks to meet rising demand. Good.

I wish they'd also consider what other cities have done and surround the outside facades of the decks with retail space.

They do this very well in places like Norfolk Va., where some decks are surrounded even by condo units. (Coincidentally, one downtown Greensboro consultant is based in Norfolk.)

That way you can have your cake and eat it, too. You can provide extra parking and you can carve room for more retail, which downtown still sorely needs.

Some are questioning an AP newsman's objectivity in covering the presidential campaign, Richard Prince reports.

No, not that he's pro-Obama. That he's pro-McCain.

Hoggard not only has strong views about War Memorial Stadium.

He also thinks any notion of moving the Greensboro Farmers' Curb Market from its current site at Lindsay and Yanceyville streets is, well, cockeyed. He used another, um, stronger adjective that I won't repeat here. A consultant's study suggests the move as "low-hanging fruit."

Hoggard tells the consultants where they can put their fruit.

As an Aycock resident, he sees his neighborhood as a loser if the market relocates. Just make downtown bigger, he suggests, and draw the current site into an expanded Central Business District.

I don't share Hoggard's views but I understand his concern. Why screw up a good thing? The market has an undeniable charm, not only for the fresh, locally grown produce you can find there, among other products, but because of the nice people you meet there.

And the famous people. Barack Obama popped up there last week.

What better especially to start any Saturday morning than a visit there?

Still, the market's current quarters are cramped. The idea of moving the market a few blocks west, as another downtown attraction, has its appeal.

It's worth at least exploring.