Weir is the decency?
Denizens of Weir and Choctaw County have worked themselves in a froth in recent weeks over a feature, um, spread in Penthouse Magazine. Seems the tiny town’s penchant for cranking out pro-football worthy players from its powerhouse high school squad caught the eye of a freelance writer who pitched the story idea to Sports Illustrated.
One problem: SI had already run a feature on the Weir Lions and, thus, passed on a replay. The intrepid freelancer then sold the piece to Penthouse. (Hey, the guy’s got to eat.) Angry folk gathered with their torches and pitchforks recently to let off steam during a county school board meeting.
But that isn’t the only dustup resulting from the article. Former Star-Herald publisher Mark Thornton, who we’re told suggested the piece to the freelancer in the first place, is catching flak for an acerbic comment in the article that only “log haulers, crack dealers and pro football players” ever emerge from the sleepy burg. Thorton’s successor in Kosciusko, Robbie Robertson, took the former publisher to task for the comment, which appeared in the second graf of the article.
Others have chimed in, too: Choctaw Plaindealer publisher Joseph McCain wishes “real challenges” facing the community and school district were discussed as thoroughly as the magazine article.