Here are the news?

The only thing we overlook ARE wide open spaces.

The only thing we overlook IS wide open spaces.

Paging R. Berg. Which is correct? The grammar mavens are divided on this question. The sentence is for a proposed customer service ad with a visual pun -- a scenic overlook.

IS is correct. The noun that governs is "thing," the subject of the sentence.

Shouldn't it be the only THINGS we overlook ARE wide open spaces. And why doesn't the newsreader say "Here ARE the News"?

It could be "the only things . . . are," but it needn't be. Because, just before the previous commercial, an announcer didn't say "The news are next."

I think you've got a winner. The only things we overlook are wide open spaces.