CLAY CO.—We’d like to report to you two major news events that we learned of through people in the area this week, one out of Edgewood earlier in the week, another out of Hord that happened just last night.
We’d LIKE to…but no one seems to have any info on them.
We were advised on Wednesday that the day before, there was a major drug bust apparently going down in Edgewood, involving Clay County sheriff’s personnel and Illinois State Police District 12.
So Wednesday we put in multiple calls to Clay County, specifically asking to speak to Sheriff Jim Sulsberger, who is always VERY helpful in these matters when speaking to media.
However, he wasn’t available, and never called us back. The gal answering the phone, Pat, said that ISP 12 would have it, and that we should call the medialine. So we did. And they had nothing.
Then, this morning, we awake to a tip that there was a manhunt going on last night in Hord (north Clay) and that a man had been shot. We even had a name of a suspect, the man who was supposedly on the run.
So we call Clay County once again and speak to the deputies on duty there. Of course, the sheriff is not in. The deputies know nothing. They suggest calling ISP, after we call back a second time; during this call, we ascertain that yes indeed something DID go down in Hord last night, but ISP has it.
No, they didn’t, either. “No major news events to report,” according to the medialine.
So we’re not sure what’s going on in north Clay. Or with our local law enforcement. All we’re really sure of is that the media is being blocked from learning things that the public already KNOWS, and if they ever do find out, it’s DAYS later, and only flimsy info, at best. Like what happened with the shooting right up the road from us. We now know all about it…but only because of some helpful people, none of them with a badge or law degree.
Rest assured that this shit WILL NOT FLY. Be watching in upcoming weeks and months as we begin our crackdown on the stifling of media in places like Richland and Clay counties…and yes, that IS a warning, to whom it applies. In the meantime, if you know anything, feel free to post it. Word of mouth, in these types of times, is as powerful as the pen…and the pen is always mightier than the sword.
