By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial board
Three cheers for Associate Circuit Judge Charles Curless of Barton County, Mo., for his gutsy e-mail blast about "activist legislators."
For years he's listened to legislators, especially Ed Emery of Lamar, Mo., pontificate about judges who supposedly put their preferences above the law.
Now Emery, who happens to be Curless's representative, is leading a charge to have the state pass a law allowing Aquilla Inc. to avoid dismantling a power plant that it built in Cass County, Mo., in defiance of local zoning laws and a judge's order.
"What in God's name are you thinking?" Curless wrote to Emery. "You have railed... about how judges must follow the law. Now we find that it is your opinion that your friends at this powerful corporation, Aquila, are above the law, and that when it comes to your friends,'logic' trumps the law."
Click here to read the full text of Curless's message.
Dan Margolies' story in The Star's business section is here.
I know, Ms. Shelly, that you have deadlines and are required to write some number of columns each day, but please don't forget your responsiblity to tell the whole story and not to mislead your readers. What you failed to mention was that Missouri law says, and is supported by the rulings of every court that heard the Aquila case, that utility companies do not need county zoning approval because power plants serve the interests of more than just the immediate area or county. Mr. Emery IS looking out for the interests of those he represents by saving them from having to bear the burden of dismantaling a necessary $140 million plant.