Is it still news when a local resident gets the H1N1 flu?

That's the question we must consider these days when calls trickle into the newsroom about this disease, which health officials are saying has generally been mild in terms of symptoms. But because H1N1 is so new, public health agencies and the news media continue to give it considerable attention.

We've certainly run plenty of articles about H1N1, which is also known as swine flu. From feature stories to what schools are doing to fight the spread of the virus to columns from local health officials to wire stories about the latest efforts and information from the Centers for Disease Control, there's been plenty on our pages.

At this point, though, we're likely not going to be running stories about a new individual local case. We certainly did that in the spring, but those days are behind us. The reason is simple - they're just too many H1N1 cases these days.

A few people called the newsroom last week to inquire why we hadn't published a story about a local teacher getting H1N1. The truth is there's probably many local teachers - and waitresses, mechanics, police officers, etc. - who have H1N1 and been out of work for a few days as a result. The CDC estimates there are millions of cases in the United States. That agency has discontinued reporting of individual cases in part because it's so widespread.

What we're now watching for regarding this disease is any major impacts on the public. Are schools functioning with reasonable normalcy? What's the state of the effort to get people vaccinated? How are doctors' offices and hospitals being affected?

We'll continue to monitor these issues and do our best to report the most important developments.

The final week before Election Day is here, and we've got plenty going on in the newsroom.

Our series of in-depth profiles of key local races kicked off Sunday with a look at contested town supervisor elections in Cayuga County, and we'll be featuring different races and ballot questions each day through the end of this week.

The Sunday edition, Nov. 1, will include opinion pages with our editorial endorsements in local county Legislature and city council races, and we're sure to have plenty of your election letters. Don't forget to have those submitted to us by the end of the day today, Oct. 27.

For a complete look at all of our election coverage, plus a town candidates guide, head online to auburnpub.com/electionhq.

Executive editor Jeremy Boyer's columns appear Tuesdays in The Citizen and he can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 231 or jeremy.boyer@lee.net