You have to admire a daily paper any time they investigate a major advertiser. And today, the Strib's Dee DePass uncorks a good one — on auto magnate Denny Hecker's checks bouncing amid the credit crash and careening auto sales.

This may not be the last piece on Hecker — after all, this is a guy who opened a mortgage business at the height of the housing bubble, and is known for pitching credit to, shall we say, less-than-credit-worthy buyers.

So give the Strib an "A-minus" today. I'd give them an A had the put the story on the print version's front page, rather than the business front.

Coincidentally, the Strib's Homes section has a fin de siècle piece on rival magnate Paul Walser's $4 million, 425-acre farm — replete with "the climbing wall in a silo, the paintball complex (complete with its own jail), a ski hill, a BMX track and a private airfield" plus a private chapel.

After 10 years, the family is selling because of "what it costs to maintain."