Weather: sprinklers at dawn, patchy leaf blower by noon Circulation: 8 households, 1 disputed
Crest of the Cul-de-Sac Courant

The Cul-de-Sac Courant

Fearless. Local. Extremely local. • The paper of record for Butternut Court since 2011

Vol. XVI, No. 37 Tuesday, September 15, 2026 $2.25 at the honor box
Breaking Recycling collection will run one day late this week. The Courant has confirmed this with two sources and the sticker on the bin.

The Gnome Files

Gnome returned, facing east; investigators call orientation "deliberate"

Old Bert reappears after eleven days, four inches from his original position. The series that was to conclude in April has not concluded.

By Marla J. Kensington • Editor, Publisher & Staff Writer

The Hendersons' garden gnome, Old Bert, photographed at dawn
Old Bert at 6:41 AM Tuesday, photographed from the Courant's vehicle. Photo: M. J. Kensington

The Hendersons' garden gnome, missing since September 4, was discovered Tuesday morning standing in the Hendersons' flower bed as if he had never left, except that he now faces east. He has always faced the street. Every resident of Butternut Court knows he has always faced the street.

The reappearance marks the 32nd documented relocation of the gnome since March 2025 and the first involving a change of orientation, a detail that veteran observers describe as an escalation. "Whoever is doing this wants us to know they can take their time now," said Dale Whitaker of No. 6, a retired police officer who reviews the Courant's gnome evidence on an unpaid consulting basis. "That, or the gnome is settling. Ceramic does settle."

Continued inside: the dew-pattern analysis, the raccoon theory, and what the Hendersons' porch camera did not record. »

About your newspaper

The Cul-de-Sac Courant has covered the eight houses of Butternut Court without fear or favor since 2011, when founding editor Marla J. Kensington noticed that no outlet, local or national, had reporters on the ground here. The Courant maintains a newsroom at No. 2, a printing facility also at No. 2, and a bureau at the mailbox cluster. Every edition is reported, written, edited, printed, and walked to your door by staff who live on the street they cover, which the Courant considers the highest form of accountability and its neighbors consider "a lot."

The Courant is supported entirely by subscriptions. It accepts no advertising from either of the businesses operated out of garages on this street, a policy adopted to preserve editorial independence following the candle incident of 2014. Subscription information is on page A12.

Aerial view of Butternut Court and its eight houses
The coverage area, surveyed 2023.