The last time The Blade endorsed a Republican nominee for President of the United States was 1988, when the editorial page endorsed George W. Bush over the Michael Dukakis.

I have been the newspaper’s ombudsman for four previous presidential elections, and I then received many complaints along the lines that The Blade was a biased left-wing paper or a house organ for the Democratic Party. This year, however, things are different.

While the newspaper has yet to endorse any candidate, Editorial Page Editor Keith Burris has written columns that have been widely seen as favorable to Donald Trump, and the newspaper’s editorial pages have urged thoughtful consideration of the Republican nominee’s ideas. This has provoked an avalanche of criticism from voters who were happier with the coverage before.

“I wonder if they have hired an ultra-right wing ... editor,” a reader signing himself “JJ” asked. Others predicted a mass cancellation of subscriptions if The Blade endorses Mr. Trump.

Well, four years ago, people threatened the same if the newspaper endorsed President Obama. 

One woman told me that it would be the last time the newspaper endorsed anyone because Mr. Obama would reveal his true Muslim colors and impose Sharia law, something that does not seem to have happened.

However, this is an unusual election, and I asked John Robinson Block, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief and publisher, for his reaction.  “I disagree with any claim that The Blade has changed. We’re publishing this year in a different election in one of the 10 poorest major cities in the country,” he told me.

Emphasizing that economic issues are important, he told me that “anyone who in the past thought we were there to lead a cheering section didn’t get us. We’re an independent newspaper.”

Mr. Block said that no final decisions on endorsements have yet been made. “We will be watching the debates and the rest of the campaign carefully. We won’t let threats influence us.”

■

Speaking of elections, reader Dan Snyder suggested last month that “The Blade publish the sample ballot and its recommendations for candidates and issues before early voting starts.”

Well, a sample ballot might sound like a good idea — but ballots vary widely from community to community, and even more so between Ohio and Michigan.

Nor has the newspaper made endorsements yet, partly for a good reason: Campaigns are designed to give candidates and those pushing issues time to make their case to the voters.

The Blade’s editors do tell me that the newspaper will run all the paper’s recommendations for both candidates and issues on the editorial page on Sunday, Nov. 6, two days before the election.

Meanwhile, voters who wish to see a sample ballot might be advised to contact their city hall or county election board.

■

Dogs, whether you love them or not, are a vastly important part of Western civilization. Close to half of all American families have at least one dog, many of whom are treated like family members.

The Blade recognizes that, and it is possible that this newspaper covers animal welfare issues, especially involving dogs, more intensively than any other newspaper in the country.

But reader Nancy Cole of Temperance thinks the paper went overboard on Sept. 28, when there was a front page story about a couple that was discovered to have 34 poorly cared for Havanese dogs (a close relative of the Bichon Frise) after 16 of them were discovered in a parked van in West Toledo.

Meanwhile, the fact that former President Bill Clinton was in Toledo campaigning for his wife wasn’t mentioned until Page 3.

This was “crazy” news judgment, Ms. Cole said.

Well, as your ombudsman, I should first confess that I do have a dog, an Australian shepherd, and yes, I see him as a family member more than a pet; all my dogs have been. He was named, by the way, after the late Blade cartoonist Ed Ashley.

But even factoring for my potential bias — the dogs in the van were a bigger news story than Mr. Clinton in Toledo.

We are near the end of a major presidential campaign; Ohio is a key swing state; and it is not in the least surprising that we are going to see a lot of high-ranking surrogates for both major party candidates from now until Nov. 8. 

 An abandoned van full of a fairly unusual breed of purebred dogs is far more unexpected.

The good news is that the dogs were all surrendered to the Humane Society, where it was believed that all of them can be saved and find new lives in happy homes.

The fate of the Clintons, however, is yet to be determined.

■

Nearly every week I hear from readers who are angry or upset because they say some news event was left out of The Blade.

Well, occasionally The Blade does miss something. But more than half the time, I find that the paper did in fact cover the event, and the reader just happened to overlook it.

Nancy Cole, for example, told me she was even more aggravated because, she said, The Blade failed to mention that a 911 First Responders Last Call Memorial was going to be dedicated on Sept. 11 at Toledo Memorial Park in Sylvania.

“There was coverage after, but I would have liked to attend this very emotional significant ceremony. But The Blade didn’t have anything in there to tell us about it.”

However, the paper did, City Editor Kim Bates showed me, in a survey of Sept. 11 events published the day before.

Everyone sometimes misses things, and nobody can memorize the whole paper every day. But if you have questions about whether something was in the paper, putting the key words of the event and “Toledo Blade” into the search engine Google will usually find it.

Anyone who has a concern about fairness or accuracy in The Blade is invited to write me, c/​o The Blade; 541 N. Superior St., Toledo, 43660, or at my Detroit office: 555 Manoogian Hall, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202; call me, at 1-888-746-8610 or email me at OMBLADE@aol.com.

I cannot promise to address every question in the newspaper, but I do promise that everyone who contacts me with a serious question will get a personal reply. Reminder, however: If you don't leave me an email address or a phone number, I have no way to get in touch with you.

Jack Lessenberry is a member of the journalism faculty at Wayne State University in Detroit and a former national editor of The Blade.

Contact him at: omblade@aol.com

First Published October 9, 2016, 4:00 a.m.