I really do want an answer on this. I posted a story in BN and in the Illinois sidebar. The story was about a bank robbery with over 10 hostages
in progress. In my case, the title was changed to remove [BREAKING], and the thread was moved to Chat with a generic topic of "Local News". It is my humble opinion that if a 5 block area of a major city is cordoned off with over 200 armed responders during a bank robbery with hostages it is a wee bit more than "Local News". The move from news to chat also removed it from State wide view.
This effectively killed the thread, ending with a total of 36 posts to it. Look at this thread, already over 400 posts and going strong. Either both were breaking news or both were/are "Local News"/Chat. I think my questions are valid and deserve an answer.