I'd hardly call $4.95 per month extortion, but I guess things like that depend on your frame of reference. If it's not important to you, you simply don't pay it.

Articles are locked to entice you to pay for full access to the website.

This is extortion. Lex Herald is much better and free.

Has anyone noticed that the locked articles typically have low numbers of comments?

Who really wants to read the old rapist article anyway. Headline says enough. And that picture....

Articles are locked to entice you to pay for full access to the website. They take a local story or local info people here might be highly interested in and lock it so that you might subscribe. Sometimes, however they seem to forget what they lock because every now and then you'll see a followup story to an originally locked story where you find the same info that was in the locked story. Example: The girl that was the first confirmed case of H1N1 Swine Flu was locked. The followup was not. I also see sometimes the news of record is locked and at other times it's not. That's a case where they see allot of traffic on certain articles and then they lock you out....to get you to subscribe. I agree, there must be some new people controlling access recently, yes the "lock fairies" are on a rampage lately aren't they..lol. And RangerDanger, you may be right too....lol

I think they've got the same person making the lock decisions as the person that makes decisions about what insurance will pay for.
Neither has any rhyme or reason for their decisions.

I was noticing that the "lock fairy" seems to have gone on a rampage.

Why are articles locked in the first place?