I don’t expect the sources from which I get my news to sugarcoat it or to avoid the unsavory aspects of life for uplifting human-interest stories.

But sometimes the bad news does seem to have almost completely crowded out any good news.

Consider the following headlines from a late August news summary from Channel 10, the CBS affiliate in Columbus, Ohio, and this was well before things really went crazy– with not just the government shutdown, but also the massacre at the Navy Yard, the woman who tried to ram the White House and the Capitol with a car, and the guy who self-immolated on the National Mall:

Man Charged with Rape after Woman Was Sexually Assaulted, Stabbed

Former Ohio Deputy Treasurer, Columbus Attorney Indicted in Alleged Money Laundering Scheme

Police Arrest Woman in Georgia in Connection with 1987 Cold Case Murder of Elderly Woman

Former School Theater Instructor Sentences to Four Years on Voyeurism Charges

Police Search for Suspect in Afternoon Speedway Robbery

Former Hilliard Music Booster Serving One-Year Sentence in Child Porn Case

Man Indicted in Murder of His 77-Year-Old Grandmother

Surveillance Images Show Suspects in July Home Invasion

Delaware Man Indicted for Allegedly Stealing, Misusing Credit Cards

Athens Authorities Find Meth Lab While Investigating Death Threat Report between Spouses

Newark Teen to Spend Six Months in Juvenile Dertention for Beating, Robbing Man

Fire Marks 50^th Criminal Act against Newark Business

Man Jailed for Beating Dog with Hammer, Stabbing Another in Chest

New Ohio Execution Plan Expect by October

Hundreds of Gallons of Unwanted Diesel Fuel Dumped into Home

I would be dishonest if I did not admit that I have culled a few headlines from the list. There were several that were not entirely negative:

Joint Investment Feeds $1.2 Million into “I Know I Can” Program to Put Students on Fast Track to College

Man Brightens Sick Children’s Lives with Camp Canine Program

Highway to Be Named for ODOT Worker Killed on the Job

Of course, each one of these headlines has both depressing and uplifting elements—the scholarship program is for students facing long socio-economic odds, the children benefiting from the canine program are either seriously or terminally ill, and the ODOT worker is already dead.

Even the weather forecast on that day was ambivalent, at best:

Some Sun, Some Clouds Expected Tomorrow