Columns
In honor of Missouri's Sunshine Week, I want to talk about a George Orwell quote, "Journalism is printing something that someone does not want printed. Everything else is public relations."
In the Ozarks, we might call this, "stirring the pot." At least, I've often been accused of as much....
The most unexpected part of operating the Howell County News has been the loss of our anonymity. Before the newspaper, I used to long to be included in the chitchat at grocery store cash registers. Now, it is a pleasing reality that I know almost everyone in every Willow Springs business by name...
The nature of my job means I spend a lot of time in rooms with decision-makers. One thing they all seem to have in common is a seething disdain for Facebook complaints. No matter the agency; no matter the city; no matter their position – they have read the comments. They know what people are...
If I seemed a bit scarce last week, that's because I was in Jefferson City for the Missouri Press Association (MPA) Day at the Capitol.
The MPA is the statewide trade association for newspapers, and one of its big goals is to lobby the legislature to keep public notices in newspapers. In...
In our coverage of the recent public-safety community forum, we reported the names of the members of the hiring committee for the next fire chief of the Willow Springs Fire Department, myself included.
Though I initially accepted, I ultimately removed myself from the committee before...
When was the last time you saw a water report for the city water in Mountain View? If you are a faithful reader of this publication, the last time you saw it in print here was June of 2021. In November, I noticed I had not printed it in a few years, so I called Mayor Charry McCann. She was...
I have been eating, sleeping, and breathing “local” for weeks. This edition’s center pages contain the rules and details of the Great Christmas Giveaway – a sweepstakes game in which we will give away $500 on Christmas Day. The catch? You have to both shop and spend local. It’s an inspired idea...
Week by week, stories that fill these pages are about people. Whether we’re covering crime, government, a new restaurant, or high school sports – there is no separating the “who” from the story. Most of the time, public interest is in the office or public position that they hold. Usually, it’s...
Considering the circumstances of the fetus
Treatment for ectopic pregnancies is not illegal in Missouri. Seeking treatment for a miscarriage is not illegal in Missouri. If you vote no on Amendment 3, you are not helping to solving that problem.
Instead, you are voting to enshrine in...
Our firstborn son is named Leonard Rudolfo Mendez. As I am fond of telling him, our Leo is named for the three hardest-working men I have ever known—Leonard for my grandfather, Rudolfo for Ron’s dad, and Mendez, of course, is his daddy’s surname.
As of Thursday, only one of these...