InkBlots

The role of The Clarion-Ledger in passage of the state’s historic Education Reform Act of 1982 is the subject of a new book by a University of Mississippi journalism faculty member.

“The Role of The Clarion-Ledger in the Adoption of the 1982 Education Reform: Winning the Pulitzer Prize (Edwin Mellen Press, 2007),” by associate professor Kathleen Woodruff Wickham, marks the 25th anniversary of the act that established a kindergarten system and greater funding for public schools in Mississippi.

Pete Collins holds the rare distinction of having probably had his name and likeness printed in more Mississippi newspapers over the years than most anyone else. At one time or another, the longtime Highway Patrol sergeant and nationally-known public speaker, had appeared before just about every civic group and high school assembly in the state.

His brash delivery and often uproarious anecdotes were a real crowd-pleaser. And he was a welcome ambassador to other states who deserved a favorable impression of Mississippi for a change.

So it was a real shocker when Collins was accused over three years ago of molesting a teenage girl – a friend of his own grandchildren, no less. The story then grew legs that eventually unraveled Collins’ public persona. The allegations persist, six months after Collins hung himself in a Rankin County jail cell.

In case you missed it, Marshall Ramsey’s year-in-review.

The Laurel Leader Call took the wraps off its new Oak Street Magazine just in time for Christmas.

The St. Louis Dispatch, via MiamiHerald.com, spills some ink over Tunica. Apparently the newspaper just discovered the landscape of the small river town was changed significantly by the arrival of casinos and other developments…starting nearly 16 years go.

The 5th Circuit Appeals Court has dismissed a suit brought against a Madison attorney for legal advertisements his firm placed two years ago soliciting Mississippi residents to join a possible class action civil case against Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.

Jeffrey Peyton, publisher for the last three-and-a-half years in Columbia, has departed the semi-weekly newspaper for the Moulton Advertiser in Alabama, which was recently purchased the family owners of the Decauter Daily.

Peyton is succeeded at the Columbian-Progress by Julie Johnson, longtime advertising director, who was recently named publisher of the 5,000-circ Marion County newspaper.

From The AP: The family that owns Landmark Communications will announce as early as Thursday that it plans to sell the company, which owns the Weather Channel and nine daily newspapers, according to its flagship newspaper, The Virginian-Pilot.

Community newspaper publisher LCNI, which owns the New Albany Gazette, which recently unveiled a new Website design, is also owned by Landmark.

The Weather Channel alone could fetch as much as $5 billion from salivating media conglomerates.