Last week, The N&O went first with some very noticeable changes to the newspaper. From the comments I got, some readers are still scratching their heads over how good change is.

The major changes: Combining the separate Business and City/State sections into a new Triangle & Co. section, and consolidating the Monday editorial and op-ed pages into a single opinion page. Also, the Monday front page was changed to a "look-ahead" page, focusing more on the upcoming news of the week instead of the past day's news (which, from Sunday, is usually pretty slow).

Below are some comments from readers. Some require explanation, some reflect misperceptions, so I'll respond where appropriate:

• "Where are the tragedians such as Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus when you need them. They ought to be here to write the tragedy of what The N&O has become .... The coup de grace was this morning. I opened the page to editorials and there were none." -- Assad Meymandi, Raleigh.

Meymandi and another reader were confused by the design of the Monday opinion page. There were two short editorials at the top of the page, but they looked different because of the design. There will normally be three editorials there, plus letters to the editor and a column elsewhere on the page.

• "You have taken what was a stellar -- though limited -- business section and sandwiched it between content ranging from Eve Carson's autopsy report to 'Your Best Puppy Shot' ... What a disappointment and a terrible reflection of the newspaper's priorities. Furthermore, Monday's editorial page has become so limited and so insignificant, it should be re-titled the 'Why Bother Page.' " -- Mark Mine, Chapel Hill.

• "Why put the want ads in 'Life, etc' section? Why not include them in the 'Triangle' section?" -- Doris Ward, Goldsboro.

The classified section needed to be combined with another section for production reasons. Those two sections had run together on the press previously and made a better fit for the new configuration.

• "I understand the streamlining of the newsroom made necessary by economics. It's not so bad, because there are so many other news sources available via the Web. However, when you start chopping the other things in the paper, you start eliminating reasons for people to subscribe." -- Gaines Weaver, Raleigh. He referred specifically to "sports, comics, syndicated political columns (liberal and conservative, alike) and puzzles."

The recent changes included no reduction in sports, comics and puzzles. Shrinking the Monday opinion pages did reduce the number of columns that day (by two). Some readers have protested the appearance of Charlotte Observer sports columnists in The N&O, saying their subject matter is not local enough.

• "I am profoundly dismayed by the changes in the Monday opinion pages and disturbed by the message it sends. We expect the N&O to be a voice in the community. I'm saddened that whoever made this decision values that voice so little." -- David Perry, Carrboro.

• "It's funny, in a very sad way, but as the editorial page is diminishing in size, content and importance, the N&O comic pages are increasing! That's a pretty sad commentary in these difficult times!" -- Richard Kiernan from Raleigh.

The opinion pages have shrunk on Monday, but there continue to be two full pages of opinion the other six days. Comics were increased in January, but not since.

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