Third-rate romance ...

One great blessing (or curse) of heds is that they tend to create a lasting impression at first glance. In the case of this one, you can be forgiven if that impression is And the Academy of Country Music thanks them for their ongoing support!

Ready to put that high-priced J-degree to work? The solution is "grammar." Take the sentence apart and wire it back together so the sex offenders are the object, rather than the subject. That's what the big paper across the state tried, and it came away with the the much less giggly hed you see at right.

The N&O hed isn't perfect -- it's possible to read it as the product of a special investigative report ("Carolina Inn could house Amelia Earhart! Film at 11"), for example. Ideally, we'd avoid "could" and "might" altogether, on grounds that heds should be about what is, rather than what might be. In that best of worlds, the design desk would open the bidding with 1/42/4, the copydesk would counter with "State considers using hotels to house sex offenders," and we'd negotiate from there.

Nice thing about the new offices on the fifth floor? When pigs start doing aerobatics over the Ambassador Bridge, I've got a really good view.