Thursday, July 06, 2006
You Read It First in the Post-Dispatch: Pete Vasel Reincarnated as a Horse
"See Stoney ... draw ... roll over ... play guitar. Good Stoney. What else does Stoney do?"
The above caption appeared on the front page of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Metro section Thursday along with three photographs of Stoney, a horse, and its owners, former St. Louis County police detectivce Jack Patty and his wife. The photos took up so much room on the front page that the accompanying story by reporter Valerie Schremp Hahn got bumped to page B-10.
Putting aside the fact that the story has absolutely no news value, Schremp Hahn still managed to commit an error of omission, a difficult accomplishment for such a tame piece.
Schremp Hahn's story focused on the talented Stoney and another horse owned by the Pattys named Pete. Pete, according to the story, is being taught to kick a soccer ball by Patty. The horse is named after Patty's former detective partner, the late Conrad "Pete" Vasel.
Schremp Hahn also mentions that Patty was involved in "at least a dozen shootouts," and received a Medal of Valor from the St. Louis County Police Department. She doesn't mention, however, that Patty and his late partner were investigated and fired for alleged criminal activities.
When I suggested via an email that the reporter check the newspaper's morgue to verify that Patty and Vasel both had checkered career histories, she responded that she had checked the old clips and found that the two detectives had been reinstated.
Reinstated for what?
In 1971, Patty and Vasel were fired from the police department because they allegedly allowed burglaries to be conducted on a business and a home in St. Louis County.
But why let a messy little detail like this get in the way of a fun summertime horsey tale?
[read more]
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Whatya Expect From Moronic Motorists?
St. Louis Indy Media, June 5:
by Eric B.
During morning rush hour on June 2, a deejay for the Bernie Miklasz Show on local sports station AM 1380 said the proper place for bicycles is underneath cars. This comes barely one year after local radio personalities were suspended for urging listeners to forceably disarm cops. It is unclear whether the deejay advocating violence against bicyclists could receive similar treatment. To put the seriousness of his comment in context it's worth noting that 12% of all roadway injuries in Missouri involve bicyclists. ...
[CYA Department: Miklasz (left) responded to this flap by threatening to sue online posters who attributed the "kill cyclists" comment to him.]
[read more]
