Fundraising with Numbers

Your LakeCountyEye observes that a monster solar flare is currently bombarding the planet with mega-doses of radioactively charged mega-pixels, or some junk like that. Operatives are advised to immediately put on their tinfoil hats otherwise risk seeing their brains fricasseed like so many chunks of trout stewed in a savory Béchamel.

Ops who scoff at your LakeCountyEye's dire warnings no doubt may have donned their protective tinfoil hats a bit too late, as the neuro-cognitive effects of the toxic solar blast is already exacting a heavy toll on an unsuspecting Lake County. What else explains this Daily Herald headline?

Jarratt, Neal tops in 31st state Senate fundraising

One symptom of solar-flare-disorder is a comically impaired attention span, so your LakeCountyEye won't bore you with the details of this Daily Herald story. Suffice it to say the story is about how much money raised so far by candidates for the 31st Senate District -- which can be summarized with this handy LakeCountyPie Chart™:

Ha ha, if you believe the Daily Herald headline, Melinda Bush's $11,480 is topped by "Lennie" Jarratt's $7,480 and Joe Neal's $6,030 -- which is mathematically true only if Jarratt's and Neal's numbers are combined.

Your LakeCountyEye suspects the misleading headline was a summary of the story's first sentence ...

Linwood "Lennie" Jarratt and Joe Neal have led in fundraising among four candidates running in the Republican primary for state Senate District 31, state election documents show.
Jarratt, Neal tops in 31st state Senate fundraising

In the Herald headline writer's defense, your LakeCountyEye knows full well how difficult it is to get beyond one of these opening paragraphs. Attention deficit or no attention deficit.