DEAR RICHARD: In a recent edition of the Union-Tribune, I read the following sentence: “Santee leaders passed an ordinance banning children under age 12 from riding e-bikes in December.” Why only in December? – James Huizenga, Clairemont James Huizenga offers a spot-on example of what happens when one’s modifiers go south — or north or anywhere too far away from the words they are supposed to modify: The AP Press Guide to News Writing advises: “The language has many ways to trip you up, most deviously through a modifier that turns up in the wrong place. Don’t let related ideas in a sentence drift apart. Modifiers should be close to the word they purport to modify.” Pioneer television broadcaster and