Daily News

NEARLY EVERY page of the Daily News belongs to the writers, photographers, artists and editors of the paper. Nearly every page - except two: The letters page and the op-ed page. Those pages essentially belong to you, the readers. There you get to express your thoughts, opinions, feelings and insights. You get to tell us where we got something right, something wrong, or where we can take something and shove it. Giving people a platform where they can reach half-a-million readers is one of the essential services this newspaper provides.

La Salle has named Will Bailey an assistant men's basketball coach. Bailey, who formerly worked under Explorers coach John Giannini at Maine in 2002-03, was an assistant coach at East Tennessee State. In his seven seasons at ETSU, the Buccaneers made the NCAA Tournament three times (2004, 2009, 2010), made the NIT in 2007 and won six Atlantic Sun Conference championships. Tickets for the Oct. 12 U.S. men's soccer match against Colombia (8 p.m., ESPN2) at PPL Park go on sale at noon Friday.

Samuel L. Evans, founder and national chairman of the American Foundation for Negro Affairs, has filed a multimillion-dollar civil rights suit against the Daily News, contending that the newspaper has attempted "to undermine and destroy" Evans' reputation and his organization. Evans made the suit public at a press conference yesterday. The suit seeks $500,000 in special damages and $10 million in punitive damages. Evans contended that AFNA was particularly damaged by a Sept.

"The Daily News PM Edition" will end its three-year run on WIP radio (610-AM) with this evening's show. The show, featuring sports writers and columnists from the Daily News, was on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m. "We've had three years of fun doing the show," said Daily News executive sports editor Mike Rathet. "But WIP is going in a direction that makes it difficult for us to remain partners. It was particularly difficult for us to agree on a schedule that worked for both the Daily News and WIP. I thought we parted amicably.

I'VE read the Daily News almost every day for the better part of 20 years. The most pleasurable part of the paper is the sports section, in particular Bill Conlin, John Smallwood and Phil Jasner. But second to that is the editorial section. Edition volume 81, No. 160, dated Oct. 7, offered numerous well-written letters from David Szczepanski, Matthew Tulini, Susan Marston and Nick Amicone. These amateur authors have excellent opinions with appropriate "public" insights, unlike the childlike garble of some others.

Daily News sports writer Bernard Fernandez has won three awards in the eighth annual Boxing Writers Association of America writing contest, known as the "Barneys," in memory of the late former president of the BWAA, Barney Nagler. Fernandez won second place in the News Story category for an account of the tragic death of Chicago boxer Francisco Rodriguez from a brain bleed suffered 2 days earlier in a bout with North Philadelphia's Teon Kennedy at the Blue Horizon. He was third in Feature Over 1,750 words for a story on the postboxing travails of Philly native Tyrell Biggs, the super heavyweight gold medalist at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

IWANT TO compliment your staff for the wonderful job you have been doing on your newspaper. I read the Daily News every day and at least one topic seems to interest me in every issue. My favorite part of the newspaper is the crossword/puzzles section. My favorites are the "Wuzzles. " Most of the time I can get one out of two. Sometimes they can be really difficult, and I won't be able to guess even one of them. I also like the way the sports section is set up. I always check the basketball stats.

THE People Paper should be ashamed of itself. On June 30, the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas began an evidentiary hearing ordered by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court relating to allegations of violations of the secrecy provisions of the Investigating Grand Jury Act. On June 27, the court ordered that evidentiary hearing closed. While an army of lawyers representing various reporters and news organizations, including the Daily News, appeared before the court on June 30, not one moved to open a hearing that had no business being closed.

Philadelphia Newspapers Inc., publisher of the Daily News and Inquirer, today unveiled a sweeping plan designed to put the Daily News on an even financial keel. With the announcement came disclosure that the Daily News is expected to lose $5.3 million in 1986. "What we have achieved here," said Sam S. McKeel, president of PNI, "is the best plan for the future since the inception of the Daily News. We needed a new approach because there had been so many changes - in the marketplace, in advertising, in our competition.

Saundra Keyes, a former English professor who currently is deputy managing editor at the Orlando, Fla., Sentinel, has been named managing editor of the Daily News. As managing editor, Keyes will oversee the day-to-day operations of the news, features, business, sports, photo and graphics departments at the Daily News. She will begin May 9. "She's a terrific journalist and will bring a great deal to the Daily News," said Editor Zachary Stalberg, who announced the appointment yesterday.