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In June, managing editor Michael Stowe wrote a From the Newsroom column introducing you to a new feedback tool we've launched this year -- an online reader panel. If you sign up here, every week you'll get e-mailed a survey asking for your feedback on our stories and advertising.

In a recent survey, we asked panelists what were the most important issues in the presidential campaign. We also asked how they thought we were doing in covering these issues. No surprise, many of the 188 respondents said the economy was No. 1, followed by education and health care.

As for how we're doing, I'm happy to see many readers noticed the charts we've run this fall comparing where John McCain and Barack Obama stand on these issues. Here's a sampling of feedback on that and more.

I think the Roanoke Times has done a nice job of discussing each candidate's views on multiple issues and the charts are very helpful.

This election is important - there can never be enough coverage. What would be helpful if in addition to your articles you give info where people can find more info or verify info.

Coverage has been adequate. I'll be glad when November 5 gets here so that we don't have to hear any more negative ads. I'm also glad the Roanoke Times doesn't talk.

The most important issue is how unfair and biased the media is. They completely lead the country in whatever party they choose is most deserving. The media should be completely unbiased and fair and balanced, but it is not and never will be.

The most interesting article to date was the one several months ago in regards to how Barack Obama is viewed in Southwest Virginia, including the "supposed Muslim" factor and his race. Fascinating read

Here's that August article, by reporter Laurence Hammack, as well as an accompanying multimedia package that included an interactive graphic exploring presidential voting trends in Virginia.

Here's the promised wrap-up of the response to my Sunday column, in which I asked, "Is our political coverage fair?"

For those of you keeping count -- and I know you're out there because you sure tallied the pro/anti commentaries in Sunday's Horizon section -- I received 12 e-mails, letters or calls finding fault with our political coverage.

In addition, one reader complained about the Barack Obama "caricature" that accompanied that Horizon cover commentary. Another said we were biased against third-party candidates, while two others wrote in feedback that I would categorize as "You're doing a good job."

Add that feedback to the blog responses from Sunday's column and it's clear the majority of you who took time to write say we're biased. Keep in mind, I didn't ask if we're biased; I asked if we're fair -- are we treating all sides with an open mind?

And "we'' here means Roanoke Times news reporters and editors. In that column, I pointed out the separation between newsroom employees and the editorial page staff, who produce Horizon and the daily op/ed pages.

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Today we're learning that cartoonist Gary Trudeau's Wednesday comic is built around Barack Obama winning the election. The panel is set in Iraq, with his military characters learning of Obama's victory while gathered around a TV set. I've seen a proof of the Wednesday strip and the ones that follow that theme. Sort of funny, but hardly worth the controversy this is already kicking up. Here's more with Trudeau's explanation. Trudeau offered newspaper editors the option of running repeat strips in lieu of this, but we'll run these as planned next week and let you judge for yourself.

Political buttons seem to be a thing of the past. Stickers in, actually get stuck is out.

But if I were to wear one this political season, it would be in the shape of that little blue ringed planet thingy you see right there. That's the logo for the DataSphere, our online storehouse of searchable data, which is just a fancy way of saying it's a place we have where you can look stuff up yourself.

As Tuesday's election approaches, here are eight questions you might have -- and for which we have answers right here online.

* Where do I vote? You can look it up in this database. Just type in your address, and you should get the precinct you're in. (Keep in mind -- that doesn't show you're registered to vote, just which precinct you vote in if you are registered.)

* Which congressional district do I live in? We have a map. We also have contested races in two of the three congressional districts in our coverage area.

Note that Roanoke County and Alleghany County are split between the 6th District (which sees a contest between Republican incumbent Bob Goodlatte, Democratic challenger Sam Rasoul and independent Janice Lee Allen) and the 9th District (where Democratic incumbent Rick Boucher is unopposed).

Also, Bedford County is split between the 6th District and the 5th District (where Republican incumbent Virgil Goode faces Democratic challenger Tom Perriello), so sometimes voters in those counties may be surprised to find out which side of the line they're on.

* How does my locality usually vote? If you're curious about voting trends, we have a nifty map that shows how each county and city in Virginia has voted in every presidential election back to 1980. Note that it's part of a bigger package we did on Appalachian voters, so when you get there, click "explore" to get the map.

* When was the last time Virginia got so much attention in a presidential race? Our data delivery editor -- that's the awkward title we have for Matt Chittum, who keeps our Datasphere spinning -- dug into the historical data in this post on his data blog. (Check out the old photos of John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan in Roanoke.)

* What about all these new voters we keep hearing about? Where, exactly, are they? You can find out on this interactive map.

* How should I vote? Whoa, not going there. But Matt did find a neat website that undecided voters might find useful -- and the already decideds might find fun, as well. You can check off how you feel on certain issues and the website will calculate which candidate comes closest to your views.

Finally, there's nothing like hearing from the candidates directly. Maybe you shivvered out in the cold with Sarah Palin in Salem on Monday, or maybe you skipped worked (or school) to hear Barack Obama at the Roanoke Civic Center. Or maybe you didn't. But you can still catch highlights of what they had to say.

* What did Barack Obama say in Roanoke? We have video.

* What did Sarah Palin say in Salem? We have video from there, as well.

Is there other info you're looking for? Let us know.

And check back this weekend, when I'll have column identifying five places in Virginia we'll be watching on Election Night to get an early sense of how the Old Dominion is going.

-- Dwayne Yancey, Senior Editor for New Channels

Our experiment with a live blog at Monday's Sarah Palin rally in Salem was a hit. Online editor Meg Martin tells me that more than 1,200 users were reading the posts during the rally.

And it was a good learning experience for us too. Reporter Rob Johnson, one of a handful of reporters and editors who posted to the blog, said he felt like he was reporting for radio.

You can check out the rest of our Palin coverage here.

Roanoke Times editor Carole Tarrant in today's From the Newsroom column:

On the back of today's Horizon section, you will find a full-page guide to The Roanoke Times' newsroom.

We believe it's our first-ever such guide -- at least a first in this generation of Times journalists. And it fulfills one of my goals in becoming editor of this paper last year -- to provide a wider window through which you, the reader, can see how we do our work at 201 W. Campbell Ave.

Ever wonder where to send story ideas? Or how to get reprints of our photos? The guide answers those questions and many others we hear frequently. It also provides names and contact information for key newsroom editors.

It's these folks who, day in and out, make many of the ground-level decisions about what we cover and how, in news, sports and features. I hope you will look them up and share news you have heard or pass along feedback on how we're doing.

[You can browse a PDf of our newsroom guide here. ]

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In Saturday's paper, I have a column about the presidential polls this year.

It's the third in a series of columns I'm doing on how to make sense of the campaign.  The first installment on Oct. 5 was a sort of consumer's guide to polls -- why some polls show different results from others.

This second column deals with the phenomenon known as the Bradley Effect -- or, as we prefer here in Virginia, the Wilder Effect. Basically, when a black candidate is on the ballot, do a certain number of white voters lie about who they're supporting?

In that column, I reference a recent piece by Lance Tarrance, who was the pollster for the Republican candidate for governor of California back in 1982. His candidate upset Democrat Tom Bradley that year, despite trailing in the polls. That's where the Bradley Effect got its name. After all, how else to explain Bradley's loss other than that white voters lied to pollsters? Well, Tarrance has an explanation, and explains in this article why the Bradley Effect, as we understand it today, never existed.

There are several other good pieces I've read recently about polling that anyone interested in the subject might want to check out. Read more »