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Prosecutor’s son charged in alcohol offenses

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ConfusedAgain
Thursday, August 4, 2011: 11:59 am
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It is very strange that not every person arrested for this crime is not front page news. I think it is in poor taste that our local paper can't find actual news to put in the paper. Instead they like to run good people through the mud.

Spanky
Thursday, August 4, 2011: 1:31 pm
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Ridiculous, non-news article. Mr. Culp, you shold be ashamed for permitting this story to be published. Public officials are fair game...their families are off limits unless it affects public welfare. Stop it!

Just observing
Thursday, August 4, 2011: 9:54 pm
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I agree, this is ridiculous! Why is this front page news? There have been plenty of under age arrests recently, why print this one? What comes around goes around Keith! Find something better to write about, maybe something positive! When you learn to tie your shoes and stop buying velcro, I want that front page, how about that??

Liberty
Thursday, August 4, 2011: 10:23 pm
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I'm curious and think I may have missed something. Where were the complaints when the prosecutor drags little children and their families through the mud and parade them around in orange jump suits that convict them before their trial, like dogs ?

I guess now we know who works for who but chronic legal problems from a member of the counties prosecutor is exactly what the papers here for. You can search this site with his name and see other charges that the paper didn't followup on and was swept under the carpet.

The hypocrisy is amazing but the corruption in this county is so fare gone everyone considers it the norm and no longer thinks of it as corruption.

That's the condition of most souls in this nation. Just as long as we stay 6 feet away from the worst we are OK right ? In reality those who do that are marching to hell just 6 feet behind the leader.

In politics this is called base line budgeting and is used to deceive the public. Satan uses it for the same purpose.

Peace :)

.

carrot-top
Thursday, August 4, 2011: 10:36 pm
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Mr. Culp, unless you intend to make front page news out of every under age drinking charge, then singling out young people because of who their relatives happen to be be is not just in poor taste but reeks of bias on the part of your decision as an editor. We have huge issues going on in this country everyday. Report on things that really matter instead of creating fodder for gossip! You spend a lot of time moralizing in your editorial page. It might be time for you to turn the spotlight on yourself and the damage you do to young individuals by elevating such stories. One day it might be your child. Will it be front page news in the reporter then?

Justamother
Friday, August 5, 2011: 7:44 am
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I agree with the previous comments. Any one else would just be listed with the one line police news.This should have been a private matter not front page news from Keith Rhoades.He must not have had anything else to do yesterday.

nobodyimportant
Friday, August 5, 2011: 8:50 am
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People in leadership positions live in glass houses and unfortunately, the family members live in the same house. I agree that this need not be front page fodder, but what is news and what is not is determined by people trying to sell newspapers.

This may seem wierd here in Morgan County, but just think, Why are there paparazzi? They don't sell their photos just to the fringe media and tabloids. And they don't target just the celebrities, but their entire families. It is a distasteful reality.

When a prosecutor's son or a judge's wife is charged with an offense, it probably will bump the County Fair from the front page. That's the way it is.

Not straying far from his modus operandi, Liberty has taken the story to a different subject. That is sad. This is a story about a 19 year old young man. His father (other than the newsworthiness of the connection) is not the story.

DogParent
Friday, August 5, 2011: 9:46 am
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I'm sure that neither Brian Culp nor Keith Rhoades took any great delight in running this story. It's a fact of life that public figures place themselves and their families in a position that is different from the general public. The story was certainly not sensationalized or given undue attention. It's a classic case of man bites dog when the county's chief law enforcement officer's family breaks the law. Many newspapers would have given it a much higher profile.

Liberty
Saturday, August 6, 2011: 12:33 am
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Doesn't seem right to punish a boy for doing what the head of his union school taught him to do. I'm just glad he didn't have an accident.

Nice Job. Corrupting an honor student. I suppose all you drunken teacher union people will disagree and defend the training of teenagers to drink drugs and drive.

Parents, rescue you children from the prison system and place them in a private or home school this year. That go's for the parent prosecutor too.

Peace :)

976
Tuesday, August 9, 2011: 4:54 am
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Uh...people...I don't know how this works, but could the big deal here maybe be that a special prosecutor will require more money above what the prosecutor already makes??? That IS a concern and it IS news when it's EVEN MORE taxpayer's money that will pay for this case when a lesser amount was needed for the other public intox/minor possession cases some of you referred to!!!!!!!!!!

Brian Culp
Tuesday, August 9, 2011: 12:09 pm
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In the interest of full disclosure, I am in the Martinsville Rotary Club with Morgan County Prosecutor Steve Sonnega. He is a close source. Both I and reporter Keith Rhoades talk to him most every day about varying subjects.
I take no pleasure in running stories, no matter how short or long, about troubles he is having in his family life. Carrot-top, you are right that the run-of-the-mill drunk-driving charge wouldn�t be put in a full story. But when a special prosecutor has to be called to try a case, we generally always write a story.
There is an extra cost to bringing in a special prosecutor. When other public officials� family members have been arrested and it required bringing in a special judge or prosecutor, we wrote stories.
These stories don�t normally end up on the front page unless the alleged crime is a felony. This story wasn�t on the front page of the printed newspaper either. It was on page A6 and was relatively short.
As far as putting my own child in the newspaper, yes, if one of my daughters commits a crime, I will make sure the story gets written � even if there is no special prosecutor.
When it comes to damage to young individuals, the biggest damage I see is that of alcohol in a young man's life.
I don�t know how this story might affect our relationship with Steve Sonnega. I do know he is a professional and will continue to work with the newspaper.
For now, I will simply continue to remember the Sonnega family in my prayers as they deal with a rough patch in their lives.
� Brian Culp, managing editor
This also ran on page A4 of today's newspaper along with Carrot top's comment.

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