I saw this story in the Keynoter/Reporter misinformation rag.  Standard Keys skulduggery – newsworthy but not all that surprising.  Hell, our government officials do worse on a regular basis and nobody gives a damn.

Anyway, here was the most interesting bit for me.

He never performed the work and kept the money, said State Attorney’s Office spokesman Larry Kahn.

Larry Kahn?  Would this be the editor of the Keynoter?  Or former editor?

It’s common for sell-out reporters in the Keys to wind up as spin doctors for some local government agency or other.  Adam Linhardt, formerly of the Citizen, now works for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office as the Director of the Media Relations Division.  Sounds important!  Cammy Clark, who I’m told once worked at the Miami Herald, now lies enthusiastically but unconvincingly for Monroe County.  I guess once your credibility as a journalist is shot, small-time spin doctor is the logical next step in your downward spiral.

Looks like the Keynoter/Reporter is a sinking ship.  First Richard Tamborrino bailed out.  Now Kahn, too?  David Goodhue and Gwen Filosa are the only two rats left aboard.  What happens if their crappy newspaper folds altogether?  They’re not going to find honest journalism jobs anywhere – not with their track records – and all the good spin doctoring jobs in the Keys are already taken.

Oh well, it’s hard to be sympathetic.  After all, they live in a hell of their own making.  As you might recall, Filosa is the one who kicked up dust to cover Madok’s resume lie when she worked at the Citizen.  And Goodhue loves a good smear campaign.  See here and here.  Oddly enough, he tends to target the very same people the county dislikes.  Note that Kahn’s name is on one of those hit pieces, too.

If the Keynoter/Reporter folds, I certainly won’t miss it.  Good riddance to bad rubbish.  I just hope it’s replaced by a real newspaper.  The Keys needs a real newspaper, dammit.