By Patrick Martin, Leader editorial page editor
Published in the March 14 Leader newspaper
We celebrate this week at Leader World Headquarters, not just in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, but also for the 40th anniversary of Missouri’s Open Meetings and Records Law, commonly known as the Sunshine Law.
It is a law that, refreshingly, should transcend party affiliation, partisan sniping and the general nastiness that accompanies most political discussion today. Not that it does, but it should. Who would be against government transparency?
Missouri is not alone in protecting its residents’ right to know. Many of these state laws sprang directly from the events
By Patrick Martin, Leader editorial page editor
Published in the March 7 Leader newspaper
It took exactly one dip into the polling pool at Leader World Headquarters to show us that the art of asking people for their opinions isn’t as simple as it seems.
Our first swim was prompted by an impassioned request from a reader who didn’t want his upcoming divorce published in
By Patrick Martin, Leader editorial page editor
Published in the Feb. 28 Leader newspaper
Onto the ever-expanding menu of ways that the public’s business is hidden from the public, we can add a new entree.
Maybe.
At the minimum, it’s some combination of sneakiness and just plain bad manners. However it gets labeled, it’s the latest, if not
By Patrick Martin, Leader editorial page editor
Published in the Feb. 21 Leader newspaper
The following is a press release we expected to get from Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association. Somehow it didn’t arrive, so we are issuing it on Wayne’s behalf.
“Last week the Missouri Senate, in a 34-to-0 vote, approved a bill that would infringe on the right of a
By Patrick Martin, Leader editorial page editor
Published in the Feb. 14 Leader newspaper
Maybe it’s appropriate on Valentine’s Day to discuss the latest developments with that service that people love – or love to hate – the United States Postal Service.
Some of the hate these days comes from the United States Congress, which has made the Post Office a political whipping boy for
By Patrick Martin, Leader editorial page editor
Published in the Feb. 7 Leader newspaper
Onto the ever-expanding menu of ways that the public’s business is hidden from the public, we can add a new entree.
Maybe.
At the minimum, it’s some combination of sneakiness and just plain bad manners. However it gets labeled, it’s the latest, if not
By Patrick Martin, Leader editorial page editor
Published in the Jan. 31 Leader newspaper
And on the second-last day, here came Avery. This should surprise no one. Avery Fortenberry, 66, of Barnhart has been a filing force in Jefferson County since his first try for office in 2006.
Since then, he has run for the Jefferson County Health
By Patrick Martin, Leader editorial page editor
Published in the Jan. 24 Leader newspaper
Stan Musial surprised me twice that I can remember. No one was shocked by what he did on the field, in the community or interacting with his fans. He was in a class by himself there.
The first surprise came in the summer of 1963 when he called a press
By Patrick Martin, Leader editorial page editor
Published in the Jan. 17 Leader newspaper
Hollywood has its Golden Globes and Oscars while we in the hinterlands have to settle for more modest awards. It’s early, but apparently there will be a spirited competition for the 2013 Knucklehead of the Year.
Then again, the competition may shrug and give up, ceding the race to the enormous lead
By Patrick Martin, Leader editorial page editor
Published in the Jan. 10 Leader newspaper
My favorite Martin to whom I’m not related – just to make that point crystal clear up front – is back in the political fray. In fact, he’ll be leading it!
That would be Ed Martin, the St. Louis lawyer who Saturday was elected state chairman of the Missouri Republican
By Patrick Martin, Leader editorial page editor
Published in the Dec. 27 Leader newspaper
If you’re reading this, the Mayans must have been wrong. Maybe we should have listened to the Incas instead.
The world may not have ended but the year is about to. It’s customary for us in the dead tree game, at least in years in which the world does not end, to review
By Patrick Martin, Leader editorial page editor
Published in the Dec. 20 Leader newspaper
Coming out of church Sunday, my sometimes oblivious 16-year-old son turned to make a comment that sounded more like a question about the homily we’d just heard.
“I really thought they’d talk about the shooting,” he said. “I guess it was in there, how good comes out of evil.
By Patrick Martin, Leader editorial page editor
Published in the Dec. 13 Leader newspaper
The Jefferson Memorial Community Foundation is about to get more money than the recent Powerball winners.
The two winners, from Missouri and Arizona, each got around $190 million before taxes. After taxes, depending on the state, they’ll take home around $115 million to $120 million each.
The foundation asssociated with Jeffferson Regional Medical Center is about to get $140 million – and there
By Patrick Martin, Leader editorial page editor
Published in the Dec. 6 Leader newspaper
It’s Christmas season, a time of year brimming with images of family, winter scenes (even if it’s 70 degrees), rich food, crackling fireplaces and manger scenes.
Of course, any well-appointed manger scene will have the principal figures, including the critters who
By Patrick Martin, Leader editorial page editor.
Published in the Nov. 29 Leader newspaper
Many of us shake our heads at the first sighting of holiday promotion. Somehow, it’s not quite the same reaction as spotting the first robin of spring.
Like the robins, which now can be spotted here pretty much year-round, the holiday season also has expanded, though it’s not quite made
By Patrick Martin, Leader editorial page editor.
Published in the Nov. 21 Leader newspaper
The U.S. death toll from Hurricane Sandy has passed 110, and its impact as a news story also has passed us here in flyover land.
It continues to be big news on the East Coast, but eventually even that will fade
By Patrick Martin, editorial page editor
After years of watching other newspapers zooming past on the information superhighway, the Leader is cautiously inching its way onto the on-ramp.
The Flat Earth Society may revoke our membership, but we now have a website, Myleaderpaper.com.
We are starting our website primarily as a place for brief obituaries, breaking