How the Naperville grinches ruined Christmas. Or not.

OK, I was a bit disappointed when the note arrived from one of my editors.

"Naperville didn't ruin Christmas, after all."

We were in hot pursuit of this breathtaking story for a few days after my editor got a note from a woman alleging some very grinch-like behavior by the city. She had wanted to submit her house for consideration in the annual rundown we do close to Christmas of some of the better-decorated houses we've come across. The past two years, we've even had readers vote on their favorites in DuPage County. (As long as I'm in the plugging mode, send your submissions for this holiday season to Anne Halston at ahalston@dailyherald.com. We plan to run our roundup of favorites on Dec. 21.)

Anyway, our reader said the city "slapped us with a 'code violation' for having our electrical cord across our sidewalk." Apparently, she said, someone complained anonymously about the cord, "never mind the fact that other houses in our subdivision have the same set-up."

Lord only knows what constitutes a code violation in Naperville these days, but I had no reason to think this running of the extension cord across the sidewalk didn't fit the bill. So I put our intrepid Naperville reporter, Melissa Jenco, on the a story. My working title, I'll admit with some grinch-like glee of my own, was "Naperville kills Christmas."

Let me digress for a second. I fear by giving you all this behind-the-scenes insight into an editor's thought process, I'm painting a picture of a guy who sits in his office and conjures up dastardly ideas for ways "to sell more newspapers," which is what we're usually accused of every time someone doesn't like one of our stories.

I'm gonna stop being so thin-skinned about that. What the heck, we DO have to sell more newspapers, a bigger challenge than ever these days. And with the ever-prominent entertainment value of all things Internet, newspapers really do run the risk these days of being staid and predictable.

So, who wouldn't want to read a story about Naperville government stomping on people's rights to light up their houses like Clark Griswold over some seemingly nitpicky ordinance?

However, the Great Electrical Cord Controversy kind of sputtered out right before our eyes.

Melissa called the city and found out there are ways to run an extension cord across your sidewalk without breaking any laws.

So here's today's civics/home decorating lesson: Basically, you fit the cord in the crack between sidewalk sections, then cover it with what Melissa described as "black rubber wire guard/cover type things (you see them at public events covering up microphone wire. They kind of flatten it out a bit so you can't get your foot caught under it and trip)." Duct tape, I'm afraid, won't do.

Now if your electrical work is not quite up to city standards, be advised the city goes after scofflaws only after a complaint has been filed. I'm presuming that might come from a pedestrian who tripped over an extension cord.

But, really, really, the city of Naperville does not wish to ruin Christmas. Here's the final word on the topic from Nadja Lalvani, city community relations manager.

"Part of what makes Naperville a great place to live is how involved residents are in decorating and making it a beautiful place to live, so we encourage that but we have to do it safely."