The 'Cougar' phenomenon—which never grows old, or loses its journalistic depth—is trickling down to the more...average precincts of American trendwatching. The Wilkes-Barre (PA) Times Leader went "on the prowl" for local cougars, get it? They found one!

Is this probably the greatest small-town newspaper story about Cougars ever written, at least in the Northeastern Pennsylvania region? It is certainly a serious candidate for that honor.

After the laundry, housework and business chores are done, 39-year-old Katie Burnside sometimes will go out on the town to grab a bite to eat and have an adult beverage or two – either with her single girlfriends or her 27-year-old beau.

What sort of whore does that? But god has showered this story with even more blessings:

Burnside embraces the cougar lifestyle so much she's developed a Web site: www.wercougars.com, set to launch soon, that will be an international online dating service.

"It'll be elegant," she said, noting the software program will make sure the grammar is proper and the pictures are tasteful.

WeRCougars.com: Your grammatically correct cougar dating site. This story exists in the real world!

"Cougar" should carry a classy connotation, she believes, noting everything on her Web site, from the logo to the content is "very elegant, clean-cut and classy."

It will outshine other dating sites out there, she said, noting she finds them "a little lower-end."

Don't mess with those other whore sites, she says sexily subtextually. Wercougars.com only.
[Actual photo caption in this story: "Katie Burnside by day is a serious professional, but that doesn't mean she can't have fun at night – in a still-wholesome way, she says." Wonderful!]

Elsewhere in cougar journalism, SFGate has a long first-person narrative about attending the Cougar Convention. "This was a Cougar Convention, not a Mensa Convention. A—holes abounded." The rest is superfluous.

Are there "Cougars" in your small town? Find out!