I want to point out some good work by our copy editors Sunday night, regarding the Iraq War and U.S. deaths.

We print the Morning Sentinel first, and its deadlines basically are 11:15 p.m. for the "Up Country" (Franklin and Somerset counties) edition and midnight for the second edition. The Kennebec Journal is printed last, with a deadline of 1:15 a.m.

Sunday night, the Associated Press story filed early in the evening out of Iraq that said 57 people had died during a bad day in Iraq. The story said the "U.S. death toll in the conflict approaches 4,000."

However, the AP moved a story later saying the 4,000th American military fatality had happened. No matter how you feel about the war, this is an important number. Vice President Cheney acknowledged that this morning.

Our copy editors swapped the AP story on page A3 and also made the item a "skybox" in the Kennebec Journal -- meaning it was promoted above the Kennebec Journal banner on A1, so readers would see it.

That's good hustle from a small group of late-night employees who often go overlooked in newsrooms and among readers.

We weren't alone in this effort. The Portland Press Herald and Sun-Journal in Lewiston had the story too. I just wanted to show you that we are working hard late at night to bring you the latest developments.