Missouri Press Association
Serving Missouri Newspapers Since 1867
Platte City — The Platte County Landmark has been sold to Stacy Wiedmaier, a former reporter for the newspaper in 2006-2008 during college. Former owner Ivan Foley and Cindy Rinehart, the newspaper’s office manager who worked alongside Foley for 34 years, have both retired.
After graduating from Park College, Wiedmaier moved to California where she worked as a reporter for The Desert Sun in Palm Springs. Originally from St. Joseph, she moved back to Missouri in July and soon after began reporting on stories for the Landmark.
Wiedmaier first approached Foley about purchasing the Landmark in 2022, whenever he was ready to retire. “I knew there would be no one I’d rather sell The Landmark to than Stacy. Importantly, she is familiar with our style of aggressive news coverage focusing on accountability journalism, and in fact she lived it during her time with us 18-20 years ago,” said Foley. “I will enjoy watching her continue that Landmark approach.”
“I really do feel like I have the best job in the world. I get to tell people’s stories and share what’s happening in this community for a living,” Wiedmaier told readers in the announcement of the change of ownership.
Foley had worked at The Landmark since May 1982, and he and his wife, Linda, purchased it in 2002. His father, Dwayne Foley, bought the newspaper in November 1979, but died of a heart attack several months later, with his widow, Ethel Mae Foley, continuing as publisher.
Licking — Heather Hawn will take over ownership of The Licking News, effective at the end of the year, alleviating fears that the Texas County newspaper would be forced to close. Publisher Shari Harris made the announcement in late October.
Hawn is a former teacher and coach at Licking High School. She told readers her goal is to be a positive influence in the community, emphasizing local coverage of school and community events. “The newspaper is the written record, and the heart and soul of the community.”
Some of Hawn’s earliest memories are of reading The Licking News, she said, as her parents, who attended Licking High School, were subscribers to the newspaper, even though the family lived in Fulton.
Harris said Hawn’s succession is the “best possible outcome” for the newspaper and asked the community to show the new owner the same support Harris was “blessed to receive over the years” as the newspaper’s publisher. “I am confident that the newspaper will be in great hands with Heather Hawn at the helm, and I look forward to reading it for many years to come,” she said.
Lebanon — The Laclede County Record is under new ownership, following its September purchase by Ron and Amanda Mendez, who also own the Howell County News in Willow Springs. Readers were told to expect a hyper-local focus to the newspaper, which was previously owned by Dalton Wright since 1972.
Good local newspapers have the edge because they are better at being local, Amanda Mendez told readers in announcing the ownership change. Rather than trying to be breaking news in the community, her goal is to be the best, most trusted news outlet available to her audience.
“I think what they can expect to see in the Record is local news written by local people, and exclusive content,” she said. “Our whole goal is to make the newspaper something that you can’t get anywhere else. I don’t want anything that’s in the newspaper to be something that you’ve already seen on Facebook. Even though it’s a weekly newspaper and we can’t compete with the speed of digital, where we have the edge is that we’re all local.”
In a separate article from Mendez about the role of opinion content in the newspaper, she told readers that small towns look to the local newspaper for trusted information but a hyperlocal focus on news holds up a mirror to the community. “The Record should reflect this community back to itself in all the unflinching ways that a mirror reflects a face.”
Lexington — When the Lexington News moved into its new office at 1016 Main St. earlier this year, readers were told the staff had no idea that the newspaper was returning to the place where it had enjoyed great success in the late 1940s and 1950s. The Lexington Chamber of Commerce purchased the News from Main Street Media, along with the Higginsville Advance and Santa Fe Times in Alma.
Now the offices of the Lexington Chamber, the Main Street location is where John Shea operated the Lexington Advertiser-News for the 12 years he was publisher beginning in 1947. At the time a daily, Shea had “all the printing … done in Lexington on Linotype machines and presses in the back room at 1016 Main.”
A graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism, Shea had previously worked for the Newspaper Editors Association in Ohio, as well as other publications before his return to small town journalism. The News’ current staff were made aware of the building’s shared newspaper history when Shea’s granddaughter, Sheila Chimento, visited the offices.
