We are very excited about the assemblage of team members for the Rolla Daily News Advisory Board, which will convene for its inaugural meeting at noon Wednesday here at the RDN.
The response from our readers has been terrific, garnering names for boards that will meet for much of the year.
Five team members have been selected, and they will serve for three months, through the second week in May.
First team members include:
• Bonnie Prigge, assistant director of the Meramec Regional Planning Commission;
• Carolyn Peplow, events coordinator with the Rolla Area Chamber of Commerce;
• Charlotte Wiggins, public relations officer with Mark Twain National Forest;
• Lyle Rhea, retired Missouri S&T professor;
• Mark Newell, public relations officer with the U.S. Geological Society.
It’s a great group, and we hope to learn much about how we can make the Rolla Daily News better for all of Rolla.
Also, this is probably as good a time as any to announce we are planning a total redesign of the Rolla Daily News, which will be unveiled in March. We’ve been meeting for about a month on this, and I can say Publisher Floyd Jernigan and I can’t wait to get started.
We’ll keep you posted.
* * *
Sometimes news is difficult because it becomes so personal.
That was the case again this week when a city department head was arrested at his home after a domestic disturbance.
The department head was later released because his wife does not want to pursue charges.
Certainly, after an arrest, a night in jail and the embarrassment that comes with such an altercation, a name need not be mentioned again here.
For the record, city officials were very open about the arrest.
The newspaper had a previously arranged interview at City Hall with City Administrator John Butz, and as that meeting was about to convene, in walked Police Chief Mark Kearse and behind him was Mayor William S. Jenks, III.
At that point, which was less than an hour after the arrest, they briefed me.
“You are going to hear about it. We’d rather you hear about it from us,” Mayor Jenks said.
Jenks couldn’t have been more right on.
When I returned to the office 40 minutes later, there it was — an anonymous tip informing me of the arrest.
We garnered what information we could from the meeting with city officials and was told the police report would be available soon.
The story went through a three-time metamorphosis from the arrest, to a night in jail, to the release.
Conversations with our Prosecuting Attorney Courtney George explained her position why no charges were pursued.
The story ran across the top of Page One in bold, 48-point type.
We wish the best for this family.
