The Carthage Press is about to suffer a big loss. Lifestyles Editor Kaylea Hutson, who has made a big impact in her brief stay at The Press is moving on. She will leave Friday to take a position at Group Publishing in Loveland, Colo, a company which publishes Christian books.
Ms. Hutson, I recall vividly, was good at asking the tough questions even when she was attending Missouri Southern. While I was at The Press, I spoke to one of Chad Stebbins' community journalism classes one night and she grilled me with a number of questions.
One of the questions she asked is why I always had two stories (at least) about any event I covered. The main reason was that when Neil Campbell was managing editor, I found that my stories were cut less if I submitted two short articles, rather than one long one. It worked even better with three.
I really can't recall anything else from that class, except that I believe Todd Higdon, who is now a reporter for the Neosho Daily News was in the class, as well.
Good luck, Kaylea!
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The First Amendment lawsuit filed by Webb City High School student LaStaysha Myers against Superintendent Ron Lankford, High School Principal Steve Gollhofer, and Assistant Principal Jeff Thornberry has been recommended for submission to an outside mediator, according to documents filed today in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
This is a common practice used to try to keep cases from going to trial.
Ms. Myers claims her First Amendment rights were violated when school officials prevented her from wearing t-shirts supporting her friend, Brad Mathewson, a gay student who was told by school officials that he could not wear gay pride shirts.
Ms. Myers is being represented by American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Kenneth Choe and Joplin attorney William Fleischaker.