But it is nearly October, the bewitching month. And a magician is coming to town.

You may or may not have noticed The Frederick News-Post newspaper box chained atop the Weinberg Center's marquee.

But that is certainly part of the trick.

On Sept. 17, Mike Super, a magician and mystifier who says he has been making magic since he was 6, made some predictions of the headlines that will appear in the newspaper Oct. 16, the day he will perform his magic show at the Weinberg. Those predictions were placed in that locked newspaper box up on the marquee.

As part of his show on the 16th, Super will reveal to the audience his predictions. If he is wrong, the show is free -- the audience gets their money back. And remember, these predictions were made before the city elections. So it could be interesting.

Well, you may wonder how he can predict the news. I do.

We here at the paper certainly cannot predict the news. We wish we could.

Just think how much more we could report if we could send our reporters and photographers out to cover news before it happens, instead of racing to the scene after we hear the police scanner squawk about a four-alarm fire or medics responding to a head-on collision. At times, we receive news via fax, sometimes days later.

Remember CNN's innovative Headline News with Bernie Shaw? Remember Shaw on the air live as the bombs burst over Baghdad in 1991?

It's sort of ironic, in this age of instant messaging, texting and e-mail, that news gathering is still basically done on the front lines, face to face with sources and eyewitness accounts.

Reporters and photographers leave the newsroom and go out to gather news. Yes, we receive releases and tips and phone calls, but news gatherers still need to get out and see it firsthand and verify the facts.

Election night is always a prime example. Everyone wants to get the results as fast and accurately as possible. Often the best way to do that is post a reporter at each precinct and have them call in as results are released.

This week, for example, you probably saw quite a few News-Post photographers and reporters at The Great Frederick Fair.

The best reporting is done firsthand. And the best writing is from firsthand reporting. That is one reason why blogs have become so popular, because they are basically someone's firsthand account, although passing them off as news is a stretch, as blogs are full of personality and less about facts and news.

So, it does make me wonder how this next generation of Tweeters and e-mailers and Facebook posters will ever be able to talk to someone face to face and ask the hard questions and look that person in the eye, willing a truthful response.

And for all its lightning speed, sending an e-mail is a shot in the dark. You send the question via e-mail, then you wait for the person to check their e-mail and then you wait for a reply, and then you reply and wait and reply and wait.

Gee, if you pick up the phone and connect with a person, you can get an answer immediately. That's what works at the paper. Getting the answers and information and getting that to the reader.

We may not be able to predict the news, but we can cover it. And we will be there to report on those predictions. The box will be opened at 3 p.m. Oct. 16 and the predictions revealed at the show at 8 p.m. at the Weinberg.

You don't need a crystal ball to enjoy a show at the Weinberg, but I predict you will read about it in our paper.