Political Retaliation in North Yakima
The local sheriff allegedly threatened to withhold official news from the Herald after the paper published a report regarding a local criminal case.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
According to the Republican members, Rochford and Simmons claim that the editor of The Herald said that an item regarding the attempted rape of a daughter of Vade Lillie was published for political purposes. If these two republican officers told this, they knowingly stated what was false. The editor of The Herald directly and specifically informed Rochford and Simmons that the item was published solely for the news which it contained, and when Sheriff Simmons attempted to browbeat, he was informed that the writer was conducting The Herald and would allow no dictation from outsiders. Whereupon our worthy sheriff, who appears to be conducting his office in a very personal manner, stated that he would make it a point to see that the news passing through his office did not get into The Herald's columns.
“Sheriff Simmons... appears to be conducting his office in a very personal manner.”
This dispute over who controls the flow of information between a law enforcement agency and the local press echoes modern debates regarding police transparency and the relationship between local government and independent journalism.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.