From the Publisher: The Hutsler Gang's Anonymous Mailer

Several people in Parkville -- mostly public officials and Luminary advertisers -- received an anonymous mailer from a fictitious group begging people not to read, advertise or circulate The Luminary. The mailing alleged that a Platte County court called me a "stalker, abuser and bully." It also features an arrest report taken by Parkville police (I was arrested with Tom Hutsler when I confronted him about stealing newspapers), complete with my home address, social security and driver's license number.

Here's the real story:


Those familiar with Tom Hutsler and his gang know this is par for the course. Those who don't know about Hutsler and his gang are about to understand what downtown Parkville has endured ever since Hutsler washed into town with the flood. Hutsler and his gang will learn that they picked the wrong fight because The Parkville Luminary is an immovable force.

In brief, a short term summary of the situation: Hutsler and his gang harassed a senior citizen operated hot dog stand in downtown Parkville out of business. We reported the story. People wrote angry letters. One day, in the news rack downtown by the Legion, 100 of those newspapers were stolen. I confronted him man to man which led to him screaming into the streets yelling for help.

We were both arrested for assault. He took a better mugshot than me (though I have worse on Facebook, believe me). The charges were dropped. He filed a restraining order and won after his defense compared my alleged chest bump during the confrontation ("causing him physical pain and discomfort") to the plight of Nicole Brown Simpson.

Yes. Nicole Brown Simpson. Makes you kind of wonder what the battered women up at Synergy Services in Parkville think about that.

Also, showing how "truthful" Hutsler is, he testified that he didn't know who I was -- a pretty neat trick for a public official in a town of 4,000 with one local newspaper (not to mention he invited me to his wedding).

Locals know how laughable his assertions are. For years his name has been synonymous with fighting, lawsuits and near nonstop harassment of the merchants downtown -- particularly women, kids, teenagers or senior citizens. The Luminary is the only organization that's ever stood up against this behaviour and will always do so.

This crew has shown what they're all about by sending out an anonymous mailing. Devious, dishonest, and lots of other d-words. Parkville isn't fooled. In the meantime I challenge the cowards responsible to own up to it just like I do every week when I sign my name to my column. Dare ya. (It's not like we don't know who you are.)

Before there was a newspaper in town, this sort of thing went undocumented and Hutsler's latest problem was gone as soon as the renter (often turned litigant) left town. That changed when The Luminary hit the streets. Tommy no likey.

There are not mailings enough to intimidate me when I go to write my column and the bad guys certainly cannot supress The Luminary. Duh.

We'll see our readers -- The Luminary Nation -- next week, as always, in the only place we sell out: the news racks.