Extra pages are okay. This paper seems terribly imbalanced. The copy editors have almost now power. Even metro editors have little power, it seems. They seem afraid or unwilling to direct or correct writers.
Writers seem free to write almost anything they choose at any length they choose.
We need real direction and discipline in metro. If stories stink, cut or kill them. Sometimes, our questions about stories are appreciated and dealt with. Too many times, though, we are blown off or even mildly insulted. This is atrocious.