The Internet’s strange allure can’t be resisted.

First, local blogger and veteran journalist Bill Sloat decided to revive his excellent Daily Bellwether blog after an absence of several months, once again offering his fresh take on news around Ohio’s major cities.

Now Jim Hopkins has brought back his insightful Gannett Blog, offering news, analysis and criticism about the newspaper and media giant that owns The Cincinnati Enquirer and USA Today.

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Maybe you’ve heard her on BBC Radio via the Internet, when she’s filled in for Diane Rehm on National Public Radio or seen her as a pundit on one of TV’s political talk shows. No matter, British journalist Katty Kay has a growing American fan base.

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In its latest round of cutbacks, The Cincinnati Enquirer began the process this week of laying off more employees — although reporters and editors aren’t affected this time.

Managers at Cincinnati’s only remaining daily newspaper announced on Monday that some graphic designers and sales coordinators would lose their jobs, according to Enquirer sources.

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Some people believe a person’s writing style says a lot about him or her. If you dot i’s with a heart, for example, people might consider you dreamy or perhaps immature. If you regularly misuse punctuation or choose words that aren’t appropriate for the intended meaning, it might indicate a lack of education.

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The New York Times is reporting today that Sarah Palin has been hired by Fox News to be a regular contributor to the cable news channel.

Uh, didn’t she work there already? This is like reporting “Dog bites man.”

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2010 already is beginning to look a lot like 2009 at The Cincinnati Enquirer.

In a memo issued Dec. 1, an executive with The Gannett Co., The Enquirer’s Virginia-based owner, wrote that newspaper employees must take another five-day, unpaid furlough within the first quarter of the year. Bob Dickey, Gannett’s U.S. community publishing president, blamed the continuing weak economy.

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Now that any gains from an influx of Kentucky Post readers are no longer helping boost its numbers, The Cincinnati Enquirer had a 13.2 percent drop in its weekday circulation during the past year.

The latest report from the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) states that the Mon.-Sat. average paid circulation for The Enquirer dropped to 168,912 readers as of Sept. 30, a loss of 25,622 readers since the same period last year.

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If you thought the McCarthy era witch hunts were over, you are sadly mistaken. Welcome back to 1950!

After TV host Glenn Beck’s attack on Van Jones resulted in Jones resigning from the Obama administration, it seems to be open season and now Fox News -- the “fair and balanced” news channel with a political agenda -- kicked its game up a notch this week in its attempts to discredit and destroy more of President Barack Obama’s advisers.

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CityBeat has held off on posting the names of some people we've heard have been laid off from The Cincinnati Enquirer pending better verification, but we can now confirm two more departures.

 Assistant Business Editor Randy Tucker and Obituaries Writer Rebecca Goodman have left the newspaper's staff. Tucker was a victim of the layoffs; it's unclear whether Goodman was laid off or chose to leave since she recently graduated from law school.

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“Black Wednesday” has become “Black Thursday.”

Layoffs continued for a second day at The Gannett Co.’s newspaper holdings, including The Cincinnati Enquirer. Because The Enquirer is so notoriously tight-lipped about the names or job titles of staffers who are let go, CityBeat is slowly confirming names from various sources and cobbling together a more complete list.

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