WTF is wrong with you, Marion County, Kansas

[956 Worldwide 34715]

A judge authorized and a police department enforced an order to seize all of the equipment and materials at a local newspaper. It is unclear how they will publish. The alleged violation was (checks notes) NOT publishing information that the paper’s editor believed might have been obtained illegally. 
 

https://kansasreflector.com/2023/08/11/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-marion-county-newspaper-seizing-computers-records-and-cellphones/

 

Spoiler

MARION — In an unprecedented raid Friday, local law enforcement seized computers, cellphones and reporting materials from the Marion County Record office, the newspaper’s reporters, and the publisher’s home.

Eric Meyer, owner and publisher of the newspaper, said police were motivated by a confidential source who leaked sensitive documents to the newspaper, and the message was clear: “Mind your own business or we’re going to step on you.”

The city’s entire five-officer police force and two sheriff’s deputies took “everything we have,” Meyer said, and it wasn’t clear how the newspaper staff would take the weekly publication to press Tuesday night.

The raid followed news stories about a restaurant owner who kicked reporters out of a meeting last week with U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, and revelations about the restaurant owner’s lack of a driver’s license and conviction for drunken driving.

Meyer said he had never heard of police raiding a newspaper office during his 20 years at the Milwaukee Journal or 26 years teaching journalism at the University of Illinois.

“It’s going to have a chilling effect on us even tackling issues,” Meyer said, as well as “a chilling effect on people giving us information.”

The search warrant, signed by Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar, appears to violate federal law that provides protections against searching and seizing materials from journalists. The law requires law enforcement to subpoena materials instead. Viar didn’t respond to a request to comment for this story or explain why she would authorize a potentially illegal raid.

Emily Bradbury, executive director of the Kansas Press Association, said the police raid is unprecedented in Kansas.

“An attack on a newspaper office through an illegal search is not just an infringement on the rights of journalists but an assault on the very foundation of democracy and the public’s right to know,” Bradbury said. “This cannot be allowed to stand.”

Meyer reported last week that Marion restaurant owner Kari Newell had kicked newspaper staff out of a public forum with LaTurner, whose staff was apologetic. Newell responded to Meyer’s reporting with hostile comments on her personal Facebook page.

A confidential source contacted the newspaper, Meyer said, and provided evidence that Newell had been convicted of drunken driving and continued to use her vehicle without a driver’s license. The criminal record could jeopardize her efforts to obtain a liquor license for her catering business.

A reporter with the Marion Record used a state website to verify the information provided by the source. But Meyer suspected the source was relaying information from Newell’s husband, who had filed for divorce. Meyer decided not to publish a story about the information, and he alerted police to the situation.

“We thought we were being set up,” Meyer said.

Police notified Newell, who then complained at a city council meeting that the newspaper had illegally obtained and disseminated sensitive documents, which isn’t true. Her public comments prompted the newspaper to set the record straight in a story published Thursday.

 Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar signed a search warrant authorizing the police raid of the newspaper office. (Sam Bailey/Kansas Reflector)

Sometime before 11 a.m. Friday, officers showed up simultaneously at Meyer’s home and the newspaper office. They presented a search warrant that alleges identity theft and unlawful use of a computer.

The search warrant identifies two pages worth of items that law enforcement officers were allowed to seize, including computer software and hardware, digital communications, cellular networks, servers and hard drives, items with passwords, utility records, and all documents and records pertaining to Newell. The warrant specifically targeted ownership of computers capable of being used to “participate in the identity theft of Kari Newell.”

Officers injured a reporter’s finger by grabbing her cellphone out of her hand, Meyer said. Officers at his home took photos of his bank account information.

He said officers told him the computers, cellphones and other devices would be sent to a lab.

“I don’t know when they’ll get it back to us,” Meyer said. “They won’t tell us.”

The seized computers, server and backup hard drive include advertisements and legal notices that were supposed to appear in the next edition of the newspaper.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” he said. “We will publish something.”

Newell, writing Friday under a changed name on her personal Facebook account, said she “foolishly” received a DUI in 2008 and “knowingly operated a vehicle without a license out of necessity.”

“Journalists have become the dirty politicians of today, twisting narrative for bias agendas, full of muddied half-truths,” Newell wrote. “We rarely get facts that aren’t baited with misleading insinuations.”

She said the “entire debacle was brought forth in an attempt to smear my name, jeopardize my licensing through ABC (state Alcoholic Beverage Control Division), harm my business, seek retaliation, and for personal leverage in an ongoing domestic court battle.”

At the law enforcement center in Marion, a staff member said only Police Chief Gideon Cody could answer questions for this story, and that Cody had gone home for the day and could not be reached by phone. The office of Attorney General Kris Kobach wasn’t available to comment on the legal controversy in Marion, which is north of Wichita in central Kansas.

Melissa Underwood, communications director of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, replied by email to a question about whether the KBI was involved in the case.

“At the request of the Marion Police Department, on Tuesday, Aug. 8, we began an investigation into allegations of criminal wrongdoing in Marion, Kansas. The investigation is ongoing,” Underwood said.

Meyer, whose father worked at the newspaper from 1948 until he retired, bought the Marion County Record in 1998, preventing a sale to a corporate newspaper chain.

As a journalism professor in Illinois, Meyer said, he had graduate students from Egypt who talked about how people would come into the newspaper office and seize everything so they couldn’t publish. Those students presented a scholarly paper at a conference in Toronto about what it has done to journalism there.

“That’s basically what they’re trying to do here,” Meyer said. “The intervention is just like that repressive government of Egypt. I didn’t think it could happen in America.”

 

 

 

[Brisketexan 105139]

Expect much, much more of this. “The press is the enemy of the people.” That’s a real thing that some of the, umm, leading voices in our country have actually said. And they control the levers of power in quite a few places.

[Shoxthemonkey 1981]

I'm ashamed to say this is my hometown. Brisket is right, most of these fucks around here only care about the 2nd Amendment. The rest of that rag isn't important. Unless the Feds gets involved, I don't see anybody in the State that has the will or want to make this right. Our AG is a POS (sound familiar?)and our well meaning Gov has been rendered toothless by the lege. Fuck

[Whitewater Horn 968]

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

Expect much, much more of this. “The press is the enemy of the people.” That’s a real thing that some of the, umm, leading voices in our country have actually said. And they control the levers of power in quite a few places.

Combine this insanity with large “political rallies” around a cult of personality with ambitions of unlimited power and followers eager and willing to grant that power, and you see where this is headed. 

[Pato del Muerto 52498]

The only thing surprising is that the little 5 man cop shop apparently wasn’t able to roll in heavier than a brigade of the Ukrainian army to execute the warrants. 

Edited August 14, 2023 by Pato del Muerto

[Captainant 27669]

Well wouldn't ya know it, the newspaper was investigating the local police chief, who had previously worked for the Kansas City police, about numerous tips regarding his leaving to avoid demotion and punishment related to sexual misconduct. Although they hadn't run the story, the identities of the people who tipped off the newspaper were stored on the computers.

And what a shocker, the pigs also seized the phone and computer from an 80 year old councilwoman.  She cares for her 88-year-old husband with dementia.She was left with no way to call 911 in an emergency.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/kansas/article278220882.html

 

[Captainant 27669]

Investigative journalism on your local sexually abusive cops? 

Try that shit in a small town. 

[Rudiger 1163]

6 hours ago, Whitewater Horn said:

Combine this insanity with large “political rallies” around a cult of personality with ambitions of unlimited power and followers eager and willing to grant that power, and you see where this is headed. 

Time to start buying stock in brown shirts.

[Captainant 27669]

Huh. ABC put out reporting on this too - in addition to the sexual abuse cop angle, there was also apparently a restaurant owner trying to get a liquor license who the newspaper was investigating for a past DUI. Kari Newell, the Karen who went gestapo on her local news paper, felt that the newspaper was invading her privacy by reporting on her past crime. 

FTA:

Quote

A central Kansas police force sparked a firestorm by raiding a newspaper and the publisher's home
A small central Kansas police department is facing a torrent of criticism after it raided the offices of a local newspaper and the home of its publisher and owner

ByJOHN HANNA and MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press
August 13, 2023, 2:02 PM

Kansas Newspaper Raid
Eric Meyer, the editor and publisher of the Marion County Record, answers questions about a raid by...Show more
The Associated Press
MARION, Kan. -- A small central Kansas police department is facing a torrent of criticism for raiding a local newspaper’s office and the home of its owner and publisher, seizing computers and cellphones, and, in the publisher’s view, stressing his 98-year-old mother enough to cause her weekend death.

Several press freedom watchdogs condemned the Marion Police Department's actions as a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution’s protection for a free press. The Marion County Record's editor and publisher, Eric Meyer, worked with his staff Sunday to reconstruct stories, ads and other materials for its next edition Wednesday, even as he took time in the afternoon to provide a local funeral home with information about his mother, Joan, the paper's co-owner.

A search warrant tied Friday morning raids, led by Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody, to a dispute between the newspaper and a local restaurant owner, Kari Newell. She is accusing the newspaper of invading her privacy and illegally accessing information about her and her driving record and suggested that the newspaper targeted her after she threw Meyer and a reporter out of restaurant during a political event.

While Meyer saw Newell's complaints — which he said were untrue — as prompting the raids, he also believes the newspaper's aggressive coverage of local politics and issues played a role. He said the newspaper was examining Cody's past work with the Kansas City, Missouri, police as well.

“This is the type of stuff that, you know, that Vladimir Putin does, that Third World dictators do," Meyer said during an interview in his office. "This is Gestapo tactics from World War II.”

Cody said Sunday that the raid was legal and tied to an investigation.

The raids occurred in a town of about 1,900 people, nestled among rolling prairie hills, about 150 miles (241 kilometers) southwest of Kansas City, making the small weekly newspaper the latest to find itself in the headlines and possibly targeted for its reporting.

Last year in New Hampshire, the publisher of a weekly newspaper accused the state attorney general’s office of government overreach after she was arrested for allegedly publishing advertisements for local races without properly marking them as political advertising. In Las Vegas, former Democratic elected official Robert Telles is scheduled to face trial in November for allegedly fatally stabbing Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German after German wrote articles critical of Telles and his managerial conduct.

Meyer said that on Friday, one Record reporter suffered an injury to a finger when Cody wrested her cellphone out of her hand, according to the report. The newspaper's surveillance video showed officers reading that reporter her rights while Cody watched, though she wasn't arrested or detained. Newspaper employees were hustled out of the building while the search continued for more than 90 minutes, according to the footage.

Meanwhile, Meyer said, police simultaneously raided his home, seizing computers, his cellphone and the home’s internet router.

But as Meyer fielded messages from reporters and editors as far away as London and reviewed footage from the newsroom’s surveillance camera, Newell was receiving death threats from as far away, she said. She said the Record engages in “tabloid trash reporting” and was trying to hush her up.

“I fully believe that the intent was to do harm and merely tarnish my reputation, and I think if had it been left at that, I don’t think that it would have blown up as big as it was,” Newell said in a telephone interview.

Newell said she threw Meyer and the Record reporter out of the event for Republican U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner at the request of others who are upset with the “toxic” newspaper. On the town's main street, one storefront included a handmade “Support Marion PD” sign."

The police chief and other officials also attended and were acknowledged at the reception, and the Marion Police Department highlighted the event on its Facebook page.

LaTurner's office did not immediately return phone messages left Sunday at his Washington and district offices seeking comment.

Newell said she believes the newspaper violated the law to get her personal information as it checked on the status of her driver's license following a 2008 drunken driving conviction and other driving violations.

The newspaper countered that it received that information unsolicited, which it verified through public online records. It eventually decided not to run a story because it wasn’t sure the source who supplied it had obtained it legally. But the newspaper did run a story on the city council meeting, in which Newell herself confirmed she'd had a DUI conviction and that she had continued to drive even after her license was suspended.

A two-page search warrant, signed by a local judge, lists Newell as the victim of alleged crimes by the newspaper. When the newspaper asked for a copy of the probable cause affidavit required by law to issue a search warrant, the district court issued a signed statement saying no such affidavit was on file, the Record reported.

Cody, the police chief, defended the raid on Sunday, saying in an email to The Associated Press that while federal law usually requires a subpoena — not just a search warrant — to raid a newsroom, there is an exception “when there is reason to believe the journalist is taking part in the underlying wrongdoing.”

Wouldn't ya know it, the search warrant was issued WITHOUT a probable cause affidavit, and the police chief is arguing that they didn't need a warrant because he believes there is an exception “when there is reason to believe the journalist is taking part in the underlying wrongdoing.”

It's just that this sexual abuser police chief STILL hasn't articulated WHAT the "underlying wrongdoing was".

Classic shitty bullying technique. Fucking fascists. 

[TwiceHorn 31471]

Well, 18 USC 241 seems like it's going to become quite relevant again** in more ways than one.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/241

And this is one crime situation where I don't mind the feds exercising jurisdiction one little bit.

** Worth noting that although people were surprised Trump was charged with this, 241 has never stopped being relevant and is charged with some frequency, even today.

Edited August 14, 2023 by TwiceHorn

[Captainant 27669]

14 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Well, 18 USC 241 seems like it's going to become quite relevant again in more ways than one.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/241

And this is one crime situation where I don't mind the feds exercising jurisdiction one little bit.

As a death happened as a direct result of this illegal raid and the stresses induced from the deprivation of rights, that would make everyone involved eligible for a life sentence, no?

God, I just want to see some fascists get fucking got by the justice system for once. Not the year or two in prison and a fine. Society and the law needs to fight the fuck back against these fascists and make an example out of them. 

Edited August 14, 2023 by Captainant

[deadshank 24653]

Government gone wild. 

[Shoxthemonkey 1981]

If you have the time to go even deeper, there is this.

http://marionrecord.com/direct/hospital_chief_quits_mum_on_why+5432quits+486f73706974616c2063686965662071756974732c206d756d206f6e20776879

And that Administrator's brother is this guy.

https://www.marioncoks.net/people/joel-ensey

I'm sure there is no connection at all.

[Shoxthemonkey 1981]

To go full circle, there is this.

https://www.hillsborofreepress.com/news/parlour-1886-at-the-elgin-to-change-hands-but-keep-same-great-prices

The seller of the restaurant is the wife of the ex-hospital admin.

[Captainant 27669]

2 minutes ago, Shoxthemonkey said:

To go full circle, there is this.

https://www.hillsborofreepress.com/news/parlour-1886-at-the-elgin-to-change-hands-but-keep-same-great-prices

The seller of the restaurant is the wife of the ex-hospital admin.

Nice, thank you for providing the links on that. I had read it in comments that there was a linkage to other ongoing shithousery in the town, but didn't want to post it without a citation. 

So it seems like the seller wanted to protect the buyer - both of whom were being investigated by some damn good journalism - so they called in the cops to literally stop the presses and attempt to destroy a publication. And since the cops were also being investigated by the newspaper, they were all too happy to oblige. 

It does make me wonder if the judge will get pulled into all of this, as he too broke the law in issuing a warrant without a probable cause affadavit

[South Austin 52504]

Southern states get most of the publicity, but many people don't understand how fucked up of a state Kansas is. 

My ex's sister and her family live in Norton.  What an absolute hellhole.  Something in that town always felt a little off, like Stephen King's fictional Derry, Maine.  And an incredibly small percentage of people there have no desire to do much of anything or go anywhere beyond high school (if they happen to graduate).  I was thrilled when my second oldest of my sister-in-law's kids got the hell out there and is graduating soon from Stephen F. Austin, hopefully never going back.

Edited August 14, 2023 by South Austin

[G650 14256]

A good friend of mine's wife is from Marion. Nothing about this story surprises me.

[SimonBolivar 10958]

46 minutes ago, Shoxthemonkey said:

 

https://www.marioncoks.net

 

Really Marion Co? Really?

[Shoxthemonkey 1981]

2 hours ago, Captainant said:

. ABC put out reporting on this too 

 

One funny(not funny?) note in the article is that a local business has a back the blue type sign in the window. The owner of that business was outed as a former onlyfans model by a former City administrator (since fired for these actions) and that was then reported by the newspaper. She has since closed her business. Pretty obvious why the sign was there. To my knowledge it is the only sign for either side in town.

I would get you some links to this,Ant, but I really need to get some work done today. You can scan the Record's archives easily.

ETA: Goddammit, the layers of this just keep getting deeper. That City Admin was hired without adequate vetting that would have revealed that he had a past history of sexual harrassment at previous employment. The CoP at that time and his wife (city employee) both resigned because the council did nothing about this administrator prior to this mess. That same group of people then hired this CoP . Without a thorough vetting. Seems like there was a lesson to be learned but what do I know? Confusing, I know.

 

Edited August 14, 2023 by Shoxthemonkey

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

seems like it could be an easy win for the right wingers up there to really crack down on this.  you can say "everyone from nazi germany to stalinist russia did exactly this.  we won't have it in my state."  they get to look principled and what not and tie the behavior to the crazy leftists in the soviet union which would convince the right you can't do this. if the leftists try that tactic, they'll just get push back from reactionaries on the right.  

[Shoxthemonkey 1981]

42 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Southern states get most of the publicity, but many people don't understand how fucked up of a state Kansas is. 

My ex's sister and her family live in Norton.  What an absolutely hellhole.  Something in that town always felt a little off, like Stephen King's fictional Derry, Maine.  And an incredibly small percentage of people there have no desire to do much of anything or go anywhere beyond high school (if they happen to graduate).  I was thrilled when my second oldest of my sister-in-law's kids got the hell out there and is graduating soon from Stephen F. Austin, hopefully never going back.

All of this is true and there are towns all over America, even in Texas!, that are just as fucked up. We Kansans hold no monopoly on dumbassery. Doesn't excuse any of it. Just pointing out that morans surround us all.

Edited August 14, 2023 by Shoxthemonkey

[TwiceHorn 31471]

2 hours ago, Captainant said:

As a death happened as a direct result of this illegal raid and the stresses induced from the deprivation of rights, that would make everyone involved eligible for a life sentence, no?

God, I just want to see some fascists get fucking got by the justice system for once. Not the year or two in prison and a fine. Society and the law needs to fight the fuck back against these fascists and make an example out of them. 

The statute certainly provides for that possibility, including the death penalty.  I'm not sure if that death is really going to be direct enough for application of that provision, which I think really contemplates more of a lynching scenario.

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

The statute certainly provides for that possibility, including the death penalty.  I'm not sure if that death is really going to be direct enough for application of that provision, which I think really contemplates more of a lynching scenario.

not going to research but i'd be surprised if there is not requirement for a criminal intent w/r/t knowingly/recklessly/whatever causing bodily injury. 

[TwiceHorn 31471]

1 minute ago, BehoId, The Underminer! said:

not going to research but i'd be surprised if there is not requirement for a criminal intent w/r/t knowingly/recklessly/whatever causing bodily injury. 

Yeah, as usual, the devil is somewhere in the details.  I bet you're right that for that provision to apply, the conspiracy has to include some element of intention to commit bodily harm.

[South Austin 52504]

24 minutes ago, Shoxthemonkey said:

All of this is true and there are towns all over America, even in Texas!, that are just as fucked up. We Kansans hold no monopoly on dumbassery. Doesn't excuse any of it. Just pointing out that morans surround us all.

True, but I would argue that Kansas has a particularly low percentage of halfway decent or redeemable towns.

[Armybrat 40845]

Sounds a lot like Collin County shenanigans.

1 minute ago, South Austin said:

True, but I would argue that Kansas has a particularly low percentage of halfway decent or redeemable towns.

Leavenworth has some more upstanding residents.

[Samson's Wig 3192]

If we start taking down corrupt officials in small towns, where are the officials suspected of such activities in big towns supposed to disappear to?   Let's think on this one before taking any serious action.

Edited August 14, 2023 by Samson's Wig

[The Ace of Aces 5183]

4 hours ago, Captainant said:

Investigative journalism on your local sexually abusive cops? 

Try that shit in a small town. 

Stealing this. 

[Saint Tacky 1614]

No one on the right will object because they've been dog whistled with the liberal media mantra for decades now. Further, right-wing media, which is now the predominant tilt of radio and television since the abolishment of the Fairness Doctrine, will gleefully cheer alongside the "own the libs" mob and extol the virtues of unfettered law enforcement. 

I worked in television media for 10 years and found the newsroom, like most workplaces, to be a fairly accurate representation of society. We had Bush fanboys, people that detested Ken Starr, and most that simply wanted their Disney stock to go up.

The irony for right-wing media is that when they are done owning the libs and the liberal media, they'll come for all the news outlets. Regardless. Then there will be no "news," only what those in this country who are more interested in having power than promoting democracy and a free press want us to hear.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

The supposed center of the story involves someone upset that their past DUI is being reported and she feels that some of the info involved only could have been obtained illegally. FYI, I think it sucks if a small town paper writes about someone DUI from 15 years ago if they’ve met their sentence AND haven’t continued that behavior. It’s not illegal to report it but that can also be harassing behavior.

Just because the cops are wrong here doesn’t mean the newspaper folks are good either. They could also be POS. In my limited experience in growing up in a small town, local newspapers can be abusive to residents the publisher/editor doesn’t like. My small hometown oddly had 2 competing papers. One paper’s owner had several DWIs, and the other paper frequently mentioned it.

to be clear, I’m not cool with police raiding newspapers especially when a subpoena should suffice. Even then the bar should be high to search the press.

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

10 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

The supposed center of the story involves someone upset that their past DUI is being reported and she feels that some of the info involved only could have been obtained illegally. FYI, I think it sucks if a small town paper writes about someone DUI from 15 years ago if they’ve met their sentence AND haven’t continued that behavior. It’s not illegal to report it but that can also be harassing behavior.

Just because the cops are wrong here doesn’t mean the newspaper folks are good either. They could also be POS. In my limited experience in growing up in a small town, local newspapers can be abusive to residents the publisher/editor doesn’t like. My small hometown oddly had 2 competing papers. One paper’s owner had several DWIs, and the other paper frequently mentioned it.

to be clear, I’m not cool with police raiding newspapers especially when a subpoena should suffice. Even then the bar should be high to search the press.

weird post, my dude.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

51 minutes ago, BehoId, The Underminer! said:

weird post, my dude.

weird that I talk about small town papers and cops, in a thread that talks about cops invading a small town paper? You do you bro.

[Shoxthemonkey 1981]

1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

The supposed center of the story involves someone upset that their past DUI is being reported and she feels that some of the info involved only could have been obtained illegally. FYI, I think it sucks if a small town paper writes about someone DUI from 15 years ago if they’ve met their sentence AND haven’t continued that behavior. It’s not illegal to report it but that can also be harassing behavior.

Just because the cops are wrong here doesn’t mean the newspaper folks are good either. They could also be POS. In my limited experience in growing up in a small town, local newspapers can be abusive to residents the publisher/editor doesn’t like. My small hometown oddly had 2 competing papers. One paper’s owner had several DWIs, and the other paper frequently mentioned it.

to be clear, I’m not cool with police raiding newspapers especially when a subpoena should suffice. Even then the bar should be high to search the press.

The paper did not, in this instance, publish info about the DUI. The information was given to them anonymously, they thought it was a setup and contacted the police. The police shared the information with Newell and she went off the rails.

I agree that small town newspapers can abuse their position but in this case they were acting with a lot of caution. Remember that Newell had already kicked the reporters out of a public meeting for a meet and greet with an elected official.

In addition to this, the paper had received tips from other anonymous sources that our Chief of Police had been run out of his previous employment in KC under questionable circumstances. Word got back to the CoP that he was being investigated by the paper and you can see why he would be eager to stick it to them.

 

[956 Worldwide 34715]

In this case the paper did NOT publish the information about the DUI. They contacted the police on their own over concern that the information was not properly obtained. 
 

And if they had, it’s more complicated than just a newspaper bringing up a DUI. The person in question ejected reporters from a public event and was apparently driving on a suspended license as she obtained her liquor board certificate.

This is absolutely small-town authoritarianism and an instance of a judge grossly violating basic civil rights. 

[wildcat09 29354]

3 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

The supposed center of the story involves someone upset that their past DUI is being reported and she feels that some of the info involved only could have been obtained illegally. FYI, I think it sucks if a small town paper writes about someone DUI from 15 years ago if they’ve met their sentence AND haven’t continued that behavior. It’s not illegal to report it but that can also be harassing behavior.

Just because the cops are wrong here doesn’t mean the newspaper folks are good either. They could also be POS. In my limited experience in growing up in a small town, local newspapers can be abusive to residents the publisher/editor doesn’t like. My small hometown oddly had 2 competing papers. One paper’s owner had several DWIs, and the other paper frequently mentioned it.

to be clear, I’m not cool with police raiding newspapers especially when a subpoena should suffice. Even then the bar should be high to search the press.

Edit: never mind, already covered.

Edited August 15, 2023 by wildcat09

[Brisketexan 105139]

4 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

This is absolutely small-town authoritarianism and an instance of a judge grossly violating basic civil rights. 

you forgot to add "and EXACTLY how a certain faction wants it to be."  Lugenpress and all that.

[Js1 85337]

On 8/14/2023 at 9:07 AM, South Austin said:

Southern states get most of the publicity, but many people don't understand how fucked up of a state Kansas is. 

[Shoxthemonkey 1981]

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

you forgot to add "and EXACTLY how a certain faction wants it to be."  Lugenpress and all that.

I had to laugh last night when a local news reporter was interviewing one of the retired farmers from down the road. Wearing his Maga hat, he was actually crying and saying "This is America. We don't do things this way".

Wake up, Bob. This is exactly the way your saviour wants it.

Edited August 15, 2023 by Shoxthemonkey

[RDCanecutter 26443]

On 8/14/2023 at 10:13 AM, South Austin said:

True, but I would argue that Kansas has a particularly low percentage of halfway decent or redeemable towns.

All they need is monorails.

[SimonBolivar 10958]

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

One Market Under God

 

What a title there Tom.

[Brisketexan 105139]

32 minutes ago, Shoxthemonkey said:

I had to laugh last night when a local news reporter was interviewing one of the retired farmers from down the road. Wearing his Maga hat, he was actually crying and saying "This is America. We don't do things this way".

Wake up, Bob. This is exactly the way your saviour wants it.

Leopards eating people's faces and all that.

[Shoxthemonkey 1981]

Would one of you lawyer types take a look at this, please?  I'm confused by search warrent and affidavit of probable cause.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/kansas/article278245883.html

Apparently, Ms Newell posted to Facebook that she and the CoP were NOT sleeping together but it was quickly deleted. Nobody I know took a screenshot so it is just a rumor at this point. Another interesting item is that the city councilwoman that was part of the raided has been trying to get the Mayor to respond to her claim that $600K of city funds is supposedly missing. She claims he has been giving her the run around. Going back to my earlier post about the hotel selling Newell the restaurant, the hotel was purchased by these folks from the city after it had sat vacant for many years. It seemed like a sweetheart deal at the time.

Just like an onion.

 

[Pig Bellmont 8718]

10 minutes ago, Shoxthemonkey said:

I'm confused by search warrent and affidavit of probable cause.

My understanding is that the court clerk says no probable cause affidavit was on file, and it’s probably because one was never filed to obtain the search warrant. 
 

If the probable cause affidavit or info about any evidence presented to the magistrate has come out, I’d be interested in reviewing that. 

[Shoxthemonkey 1981]

8 minutes ago, Pig Bellmont said:

My understanding is that the court clerk says no probable cause affidavit was on file, and it’s probably because one was never filed to obtain the search warrant. 
 

If the probable cause affidavit or info about any evidence presented to the magistrate has come out, I’d be interested in reviewing that. 

Today's rumor is that the County attorney has the affidavit but won't release it. Is that the office where it would logically be?

The town is buzzing. A reporter from the NY Times called one of my buddies, a business owner, and asked a lot of questions about the newspaper folks and the community in general. If the council woman is correct that there are missing funds, it would be great for a large newspaper with forensic reporters to take this and run with it.

[Brisketexan 105139]

12 minutes ago, Shoxthemonkey said:

Today's rumor is that the County attorney has the affidavit but won't release it. Is that the office where it would logically be?

The town is buzzing. A reporter from the NY Times called one of my buddies, a business owner, and asked a lot of questions about the newspaper folks and the community in general. If the council woman is correct that there are missing funds, it would be great for a large newspaper with forensic reporters to take this and run with it.

I've seen a similar scenario play out like that before: small enterprise/jurisdiction is crooked, gets away with shit always, all the time.  Until they finally do the "one thing too many."  It leaves a big fat thread dangling out there.  Some outsider comes along and pulls that thread.  And, because it's an outsider who is thus immune to the local power/control, there's nothing to stop them when they keep pulling and pulling and pulling (wtf is the police chief gonna do to the NYT?).  And HOLY SHIT, the stuff you see unravel.

The Marion power structure may have just seriously FA'd.  The FO will follow.

EDIT: BTW, what would be VERY cool would be to see a major outlet like the NYT do their investigation and reporting JOINTLY with the Marion paper.  That way, they're both on the byline and both get credit when the Pulitzer rolls in.  There's a really good opportunity here to make a public display of how important local, community journalism is.

Edited August 16, 2023 by Brisketexan

[Shoxthemonkey 1981]

This might make a good movie some day but I'm not sure that the death of a newspaperwoman will be enough to grab Hollywood. We will need an attempted murder at the very least for Lifetime to do it. If it does get made, I want Clooney to play my role.

[wildcat09 29354]

12 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

I've seen a similar scenario play out like that before: small enterprise/jurisdiction is crooked, gets away with shit always, all the time.  Until they finally do the "one thing too many."  It leaves a big fat thread dangling out there.  Some outsider comes along and pulls that thread.  And, because it's an outsider who is thus immune to the local power/control, there's nothing to stop them when they keep pulling and pulling and pulling (wtf is the police chief gonna do to the NYT?).  And HOLY SHIT, the stuff you see unravel.

The Marion power structure may have just seriously FA'd.  The FO will follow.

EDIT: BTW, what would be VERY cool would be to see a major outlet like the NYT do their investigation and reporting JOINTLY with the Marion paper.  That way, they're both on the byline and both get credit when the Pulitzer rolls in.  There's a really good opportunity here to make a public display of how important local, community journalism is.

Buddy, have I got some bad news for you about the Times and their relationship to local, community journalism (they steal shit without attribution from small and/or local journalists all the time).

Propublica on the other hand does stuff like that pretty often.

[Brisketexan 105139]

1 minute ago, Shoxthemonkey said:

This might make a good movie some day but I'm not sure that the death of a newspaperwoman will be enough to grab Hollywood. We will need an attempted murder at the very least for Lifetime to do it. If it does get made, I want Clooney to play my role.

I am 100% certain that in the course of the investigation, they'll find some kinky shit going on.  The mayor is boning the police chief's sister in his brother's trailer while she makes her cousin's nephew watch, or somesuch.  It's a small town, I know how this shit works.

And.....you'll be played by Steve Buscemi and like it.

[Shoxthemonkey 1981]

2 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

I am 100% certain that in the course of the investigation, they'll find some kinky shit going on.  The mayor is boning the police chief's sister in his brother's trailer while she makes her cousin's nephew watch, or somesuch.  It's a small town, I know how this shit works.

And.....you'll be played by Steve Buscemi and like it.

Not nearly enough underbite. I mean, we're talking bulldog level underbite. You've seen my picture, you're better than this.

[Brisketexan 105139]

5 minutes ago, Shoxthemonkey said:

Not nearly enough underbite. I mean, we're talking bulldog level underbite. You've seen my picture, you're better than this.

I just don't know if there's an actor ugly enough to play you.  "Working actor" and "ugly enough to play Shox" seem to be mutually exclusive concepts.