People read The New York Times very carefully, particularly conservatives looking for bias or error. Two locals chalked up recent gotchas.

Republican consultant Todd Myers, who also runs the Center for Environmental Policy at the Washington Policy Center, caught a New York Times freelancer in a conflict of interest. And after hearing from Myers, the paper added this editor's note that makes it clear he was right.

Editors' Note: Oct. 29, 2006

An article in Real Estate on Oct. 15 featured homes in the Pacific Northwest that were constructed with environmentally sensitive building methods and materials. The article reported that the United States Building Council had begun a national certification program for these "green" houses, and quoted Tom Kelly, a Portland builder whose home was the first in the West to receive certification.

After the article appeared, a reader alerted The Times that Mr. Kelly had made financial contributions to a nonprofit organization in Seattle for which the writer of The Times article, a freelancer, had worked. The group, Sightline Institute, which promotes a sustainable economy in the Pacific Northwest, had hired the freelance writer to help with editing and writing projects.

The writer did not list her work at Sightline when she filled out a contract that The Times requires of all freelancers. She later told The Times that she had not been aware of Mr. Kelly's connection to Sightline when she quoted him in the article. Had Times editors been aware of her association with Sightline, they would not have given her the assignment.

Myers said he reads environmental groups' Web sites as part of his work for WPC. This one was an easy catch, though. He read about the writer's conflict on the blog of the Sightline Institute the day after the piece was published in The Times:

Full disclosure: the house is owned (and I think built) by Tom Kelly, who's a Sightline donor.

Fuller disclosure: the article was written by Colleen Kaleda, who's the back-up editor for Tidepool (operated, of course, by Sightline) and who contributed hugely to Sightline's recent report, Property Wrongs.

Yes, Sightline is everywhere.

Myers told me what surprised him was "that the blog bragged about this, not seeing the obvious conflict. From my perspective, the environmental groups feel a kinship with the reporters who cover them, so such a crossover doesn't raise alarms. "

I'm not sure the other NY Times fact-checking is about bias. Stefan Sharkansky, who I'm beginning to think has committed the King County voter database to memory, raises a good question about this story about the 8th Congressional District race from The New York Times.

Among locals quoted in the story are a couple, "Pia and Bong Bernadino."

This year, as always, they are voting for candidates "with a strong family orientation," Mr. Bernadino said ... To their delight, the ballot they received in the mail this year had translations in seven languages, including their native Tagalog. "This is paradise, the land of opportunity," Ms. Bernadino said of Bellevue.

Sharkansky, though, says that can't be true.

Oops. Their name is spelled Bernardino. They do have a Bellevue address, but I doubt they're Bellevue voters. They're not registered to vote in the state of Washington, at least not under any last name that includes "Bernardino" or "Bernadino". Tagalog ballots? I don't think so. King County issues ballots in English and Chinese, but not Tagalog.

I checked with King County elections spokeswoman Bobbie Egan and she confirms there are no Tagalog ballots in King County.