While it shocked plenty of readers to learn last week about the Auburn Department of Public Works internal theft investigation and subsequent amnesty for workers who returned stolen equipment, for many others, it was news that had been going around for weeks.

Unfortunately, it wasn't until last week that news organizations had enough confirmation of facts to print the story. It had been a frustrating situation. Some people had even accused us of taking part in some sort of conspiracy to cover up the story, which can be a little maddening to hear or read when you know how much effort is taking place behind the scenes trying to break the story.

But as loud and as frequent as rumors can be, we only publish stories with verified facts. Even with this story, there have been some rumors that we now know are just not true, as bad as the actual truth is.

Typically, there are two ways to verify information for a news story. You get it firsthand from people with direct knowledge of the story, or you get it through public documents.

So why did it take so long to get this story reported to the point where it could be published?

First and foremost, a few city officials simply denied the story when asked about it previously. And despite some anonymous tips regarding the allegations that had come our way, we didn't know enough to be able to zero in on the right documents that could confirm anything worth printing.

Ultimately, the story got to the point where officials could not cover things up anymore. The news came out, along with the background on efforts to keep it from becoming public knowledge.

The bottom line is that the residents of Auburn have a right to know about these kinds of abuses. I'm relieved that they now know about this case.

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I had an online reader ask last week about why our police arrest listings are not found at the auburnpub.com Web site.

That's one of several features of the print edition that we've chosen to keep off the Web site, just as there's content on the Web site that doesn't make it to the print edition. Our weekly Thursday business page, weddings and engagement announcements and restaurant inspections are some of the other print-only items.

Our goal is to give people a reason to use both products, so it doesn't make much sense to simply make them carbon copies of each other.

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