The Columbia Heart Beat

A repealed assault on privacy and the 4th Amendment.  Part 2 of a series.

Of trees and terminations 

 

by Fake Hank Waters

(Click links and pix to follow along)  

COLUMBIA, 6/5/17 (Op Ed) -- "Jimmy!"

My voice echoed in the empty hallways, corridors, newsrooms, restrooms, and offices across my family newspaper's Columbia Tribune home.   I was surprised when my trusty managing editor of thirty years popped his head into my office.

"Came back to grab a few things," he said.  "What's up?" 

"What the HELL does Rusty think he's doing?"

"Rusty," for readers unaware, is Rustan Burton , the Trib's new publisher, who in Sunday's edition savaged the old gang on their way out the door .  

With a coy smile, Rusty compared local journalism legends like political cartoonist John Darkow and sportswriter Joe Walljasper to deadwood trimmed off John Sam Williamson's giant bur oak tree in McBaine.  The tre...