Appreciated

To the editor:

I have been a reporter, author, editor, and writer for more than 50 years. Like so many others, I supported the Marion County Record by subscribing as soon as I read about the police raid on its offices.

After receiving my first four issues, I could not be more impressed with the work of Eric Meyer and his staff in fighting for a free and independent press and, in fact, our democracy as a whole.

Mr. Meyer’s writing tells this complicated story with clarity, precision, and fact-based accuracy. Given the emotions that must run high in him, considering he lost his mother in no small part because of the malfeasance of local officials, this is no small feat.

He unravels what amounts to a widespread conspiracy so that his readers can understand the depths to which those in power can sink when they believe they are above the law.

I hope the citizens within the area covered by the Record appreciate the gem of a newspaper that serves them. I also hope they remember these abuses of power when they cast their ballots for local leaders in future elections.

Dysfunction in local government is not unique to rural Kansas. It occurs regularly in towns and cities large and small throughout this country. Rarely are these abuses laid bare as starkly as they have been because of the assault on the Record and its staff and also because of the Record’s excellent coverage of the events leading up to this abusive raid.

Please use these lessons to improve our freedom and democracy.

Lenny Shulman
Versailles, Kentucky