Campbell Robertson of the NYT writes the best lede I’ve seen in forever:

James Davis figures that his first mistake was asking permission. If a man promises his wife he will bury her in the front yard, then he should just do so.

Oh, hell yeah. This is a story about an old man who buried Miss Patsy, his late wife, in the front yard of their house in Stevenson, Alabama, in defiance of the gummint. Stuart Buck sent the link to me, saying accurately that the piece is full of wonderful lines. Such as:

“If you allow it for Mr. Davis, you allow it for Ms. Adams, Mr. Jones and everyone else,” Mr. Edmiston said, adding that this was the most protracted litigation in the city since a case a few years ago involving something about pigs. [Emphasis mine — RD]

In truth, the city is right. They can’t allow this. But one’s heart goes out to the poor old man. If I lived there, I’d be on the side of the town. But I don’t, so I say, along with the sign in his front yard, “Let Patsy stay buried.”