A return to the Sunday Globe of old

Sunday's paper was a welcome change of pace for the Joplin Globe. As I have written before, at one time readers could expect some in-depth local reporting in the Sunday newspaper. Sadly, that has not been the case for a long time.
Sunday was a return to the Globe of old. The edition featured the beginning of an investigative series by Max McCoy on meth in the area. It also included a welcome return to page one from Andy Ostmeyer, an editor/reporter whose talents have been sorely misused for years (i.e. the regular Wal-Mart watch column). Ostmeyer took a detailed look at the proposed sale of MOHELA to Sallie Mae (though Sen. Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, insists that no buyer has been chosen yet). Ostmeyer has been the only local reporter to examine the money trail between Sallie Mae and Missouri Governor Matt Blunt and his father, Seventh District Congressman Roy Blunt. Though area print and broadcast media have noted that there is a possibility that the sale could drive up the cost of student loans (though MSSU does not participate in the program as University President Dr. Julio Leon was quick to note), that view has been hidden behind the possibility of a brand new sciences building for the university.
Another article noted that the city of Joplin has still not released what the punishment was in the case of the two police officers involved in the arrest of an 11-year-old boy at a Joplin elementary school. Some of the readers who responded to the article on the Globe website accused the newspaper of overdoing this story. While I disagreed with some of the methods used by the paper in its search for the information, the information should have been made public a long time ago. Stopping the pursuit of the facts is extending an invitation to city officials to do it again.