Jun 4, 2015 3 min read

Reading a newspaper can sometimes seem a little like panning for gold. The prospector may sift through hundreds of pounds of silt before discovering a glittering bit of precious metal. The newspaper reader may rummage through dozens of articles before a single sentence or paragraph so startling in its wisdom makes her straighten in her chair, reread the lines, and perhaps, even rouse the attention of her spouse across the breakfast table so she might read aloud what she has discovered.

These are literary nuggets: revelations of truth, compact and remarkable for their simplicity; or observations that compel us to think and to wonder, and to question.

Gold panners on some rare days find enough little bits to keep them going through days of finding nothing at all. And on some days, like last Sunday, readers could well have found enough nuggets to inspire them to renew their subscriptions. Here are just a few:

• We have heard so much on television and radio about the scandal surrounding FIFA, the world soccer organization. Many of its officials face charges, but it has been difficult to comprehend what all the clamor is about. John Steigerwald, in his sports column, summed it all up in a single sentence: “Maybe you’ve heard the shocking news that a country, Qatar, where it’s 108 degrees when the games are played, may have bribed the people in charge to get the World Cup there in 2022.”

• The elderly and the nation as a whole might save a whole lot of money if Medicare were permitted to negotiate for bulk discounts on drugs. In his column on the Opinion page, Nicholas Kristof explained why that hasn’t happened: “The health care industry hires about five times as many lobbyists as there are members of Congress. That’s a shrewd investment. Drug company lobbyists have prevented Medicare from getting bulk discounts, amounting to perhaps $50 billion a year in extra profits for the sector.”

• Recently, a large number of bluegill and crappie were found dead in Cross Creek Lake. Authorities blamed the fish kill of post-spawn stress, but Outdoors columnist George Block, who has been fishing for most of his long life, questioned the official conclusion: “Crappie spawn when water temperatures reach 56 to 59 degrees. The bluegill require waters to reach higher temperatures and spawn when waters reach 67 degrees. These temperatures are what trigger the spawn and are far enough apart to spread spawn time to about three to four weeks in a normal season. … Just maybe we should be looking in another direction for the cause of this fish kill.”

• Staff writer Francesca Sacco wrote about the increasing number of young women being swept up in the heroin epidemic and the difficulty they face in fighting the addiction. It’s become clear prison is no cure and only long-term treatment can succeed. As Jon Ridge, assistant chief probation officer for Washington County, said: “Jail can’t fix these people. Short inpatient treatment can’t fix these people.”

The number of women in Washington County jail quadrupled since 1996. Drugs are to blame for this. As anecdotal illustration, readers need glance only at the Police Report in Wednesday’s paper. There were nine separate arrests for drugs, four of them women caught with heroin or syringes.

One final nugget, this written by a reader, Oren Spiegler, in Tuesday’s edition, concerning Pennsylvania’s budget process: “It is curious many lawmakers who wish to open union negotiations with the commonwealth to public scrutiny expressed no desire to do the same for secret, behind-closed-door meetings through which a budget will emerge.”