A Garfield township man has pleaded guilty to making telephone threats to the Record-Eagle's publisher and editors. Alfred VanDyke Jr., 46, used pay phones to telephone a death threat to Record-Eagle publisher Ann Reed and to harass editors Bill Thomas and Mike Tyree. VanDyke was upset about the paper's aggressive reporting on questionable fundraising practices of State Senator Jason Allen, as well as editorials on President George Bush. He described the calls as "a silly prank," according to this Record-Eagle article. We say: Traverse City is lucky to have the courageous and capable people we do at the helm of our area's biggest paper. Let's hope they survive the changes associated with its transfer of ownership.